Anything You Want: The Ultimate Riker Lynch Love Story
by Mayzing
Summary: Iris Acker became best friends with the Lynches when she moved to Littleton. Riker was the one she was closest with. So two years later, when they move to California, it breaks her heart. But R5 getting famous could possibly reconnect their friendship and lead to feelings that they had left behind in their childhood. Written by R5inmysoul
1. Long Life Friends

**Littleton Colorado, April 10th 2005**

**Monday 6:30 a.m.**

**Iris's P.O.V**

BEEP BEEP BEEP BE-

I pressed, well more slammed, the snooze button on my alarm clock. Then I realized it was Monday, the first day at my new middle school. I bolted out of bed to get ready. I was not excited for school, even a little bit. It's just a bully's playground. But I've been immune to it over the years. I know how to fend for myself, so I might as well not waste my time. I lifted the shades and was immediately blinded by the sun. The day before we had so much rain you would think it would flood, but now it looks like no drop of rain fell. I guess that's Colorado for you. I looked west and saw the Rocky Mountains. I had to admit that this place was beautiful, but I liked it much better in Maine, where we had just moved.

This is the fifth school I've gone to. My parents and I have moved five times in the past five years. My parents, April and Martin Acker, are the CEO's of some lawfirm so we've basically lived all over the country. From Georgia to Texas to Ohio to Maine and now to Colorado. My favorite place we've lived was Augusta, Maine, which we had left about a week ago. We lived right on the shore in a beautiful, yet quaint, beach-type house. If you looked out my bedroom window you would see a large red and white striped lighthouse on a large rock, and miles and miles of ocean. There were beautiful flowers everywhere you looked and we had a large apple tree in the backyard that I would climb up on and do my homework or just daydream in. But that was then and this is now.

My parents dropped the bomb that we were moving about five months prior. They felt so terrible that they let me pick the house. We live in a cul-de-sac and we lived in the house three down from the one at the end of the cul-de-sac. Even though my parents are kind of wealthy, I never really had "champagne" taste. So I picked a nice little two-story house that was white with blue shutters. From the outside, my bedroom window was the one that kind of stuck out further than the other two bedrooms. And I picked that one specifically so I could sit on the roof sometimes. Of course the roof is flat enough so I won't get hurt.

I quickly went to my closet and grabbed some random, clean, baggy khakis with many pockets covering it and my green All American Rejects T-shirt. Then I threw on some socks and laced up my black converse hightops. I dress very skater-girl like because, well that's exactly what I am. I then walked into the bathroom and looked at my reflection. My chestnut, brown hair was still straight from where I washed and straightened it last night, so I wouldn't be so curly this morning. I took out my flat iron and did a trick that my cousin taught me. I curled my hair with the flat iron to make beachy like waves. I then washed my face, brushed and flossed my teeth, and all other oral hygiene. I thought about putting make-up on, but I like to take good care of my skin so I wouldn't have bad acne, and my skin is tan enough to cover most blemishes. I already have dark eyelashes so eye make-up wasn't necessary. I turned the light off in my bathroom and grabbed my bookbag. I took another quick glance at my closet, then walked over to it to get extra shirt. If this school was anything like the others, I'll somehow end up with my lunch on me. I threw the shirt in my bookbag and quickly made my bed and tidied up before going downstairs to get some breakfast.

My mom and dad were at the counter. My mom was making coffee and my dad was reading the daily newspaper. They both looked up and bid me a good morning and I returned it as I grabbed the milk and Lucky Charms and began to pour a bowl.

My dad looked up from his newspaper again. "Are you sure you don't want me to drive you, sweetie?"

I waved him off and smiled. "No dad, the school is not that far from here." I pointed out. "I'll just take my board." I finished up my cereal and set the bowl down in the sink.

"Alright, well be careful." He warned me.

"I will," I replied and snatched my grey hoodie to shield me from the breezy, April air. Then, with my bookbag around my shoulders and skateboard in hand, I was off. I rode down my driveway and got to the sidewalk. I decided to go around the cul-de-sac so I wouldn't have to cross the street later. As I got towards the end, I noticed a group of four kids walking out of their house. It was three boys and one girl. The oldest looked to be about my age and had blonde hair that was spiked up and was wearing a blue polo, some jeans, and converse. The girl looked to be just a year or so younger than him with matching blonde hair and bangs that was up in a high ponytail. For some reason she was wearing a pink tutu and a sparkly, Hello Kitty shirt. The other boy was probably around ten or eleven and he had spiked up brown hair. He was wearing jeans, converse, and a green polo. The last boy looked eight or nine, had blonde spiked up hair like the older one and was wearing jeans, converse, and a yellow polo. It must be a trend. I was close enough to hear the oldest boy say. "Rydel, I'm pretty sure you can't wear a tutu to school." When they got on the sidewalk, I realized how fast I was going and didn't want to hit them. I almost hit them but swerved out of the way just in time. I swore I heard the brunette boy yell, "Awesome! Hey Riker, look how fast she's going!"

I quickly looked back and yelled "Sorry!" for almost running them over. And I could've swore the tall blonde, who I'm assuming is Riker, and I locked eyes for a brief second. Then I turned around and crossed a neighborhood street before riding into the school parking lot and up the steps.

I walked into what I assumed to be the school office, carrying my skateboard and saw a secretary typing at the computer. I quietly shut the door and made my way over to her, clearing my throat to get her attention.

She paused and looked up at me. "Hello, I'm Marsha, how may I help you?"

I returned the smile. "Yeah I'm Iris Marie Acker and I'm new. I need my schedule, please."

"Oh! What a pretty name! I'll get your schedule right away, take a seat over there please." She gestured over to the row of black, leather chairs.

"Thank you," I said, sitting down.

As she was looking through the files, I turned around and looked out the windows behind my seat. I noticed the blonde boy and his brothers and sister come in again. Him and me locked eyes for a brief moment, yet again, before Marsha popped back up.

"Here you go sweetie, now your first class starts in fifteen minutes so I suggest you find someone who's in the same grade as you who can show you to your locker. All your classes are in the same hallway so it shouldn't be too much trouble." She said while handing me a blue folder

She glanced behind me, through the windows and waved somebody in. I looked behind to and it was the blonde boy. He motioned his three siblings to go to class and walked through the office doors.

When he walked in, I got a better chance to look at him. He had a small, but admittedly cute, nose and brown eyes.

"Good morning Marsha," He said with a smiled and looked over to me. Marsha also noticed this and gestured over to me.

"Riker, this is Iris. She's new here and I need you to show her to her locker. "

I stuck my hand out for a handshake. Trying to shake the thought from my head that I was being to forward or too much of a dork. But all my worries vanished away when he shook my hand and greeted me with a, "Nice to meet you Iris."

He smiled and I froze. He also had a really nice smile. My head was nagging me with thoughts.

_Say something dummy!_

_He's going to think your weird … _

_Wait, he said nice to meet you right?_

"You too, Riker." I blurted out.

_Stupid!_

I sighed to myself, mentally telling the voice to shut up.

**Riker's P.O.V**

As soon as we walked into the school, I saw the girl with the skateboard in the office. We locked eyes for a second before I felt Rydel tugging on my arm.

"Hey Riker we have fifteen minutes till school starts! I hope Jenny is in my class. It's hard to believe I'm already a sixth grader! This year is going to be so much fun!" She babbled, jumping up and down.

Rocky groaned. "_Rydel_, shut up, it's too early!"

I laughed to myself; he never was a morning person. Ross, however, looked a little worried about starting school. I nudged him in the arm and smiled at him. "What about you, Ross? Fourth grade is totally awesome,"

He smiled a small yet confident smile back. He was actually pretty outgoing, especially with adults. It's amazing how he could communicate so easily with people.

I looked back over to the office where I saw Marsha, the secretary, waving me in. I nodded and looked over at Rydel. "Go ahead and take Ross and Rocky to class, I have to do something." She nodded and I walked into the office.

I smiled at Marsha and said good morning to her before turning full attention to the girl. She had shoulder length, wavy, brown hair with highlights of gold. She also had deep brown eyes, a little mole on the side of her mouth, and full pink lips. She didn't wear any make-up but she really didn't need it. Her face was slightly tan and she had rosy cheeks with a few freckles scattered across them and the bridge of her nose. I didn't know how long I was staring until I heard Marsha clear her throat.

"Riker this is Iris. She's new here and I need you to show her to her locker."

I nodded to Marsha and looked over at Iris. The name is so pretty and fit her perfectly. She stuck out her hand for a handshake and I gladly took it. "Nice to meet you Iris." I flashed her a smile. I loved how her name rolled off my tongue.

"You too, Riker." She said with a breathtaking smile of her own. I motioned for her to come with me and she picked up her bag and skateboard.

"Iris, no skateboarding in the hallways." Marsha said seriously but with a smile. We were at the door when Iris turned around.

"Okay, I wouldn't want to run anybody over on my first day." She shot me a knowing smile and I returned it as we left.

We walked around the corner and up the first, small flight of stairs in an awkward silence. I was having an internal battle with myself on what to say. I finally swept up enough courage and cleared my throat, gaining her attention.

"Here, let me see your schedule. It has your locker number on it."

"Oh yeah, just a second." She reached into the blue folder and look through papers to try and find her schedule. I noticed she struggled with finding her papers and holding her skateboard at the same time.

"Here let me hold this for you …" I tugged the skateboard out of her arms and she looked up and smiled at me.

"Thank you, here." She pulled out a little piece of paper and I read her locker number, which I noticed was right next to mine and the rest of my siblings.

"Oh, you have the locker right next to mine, come on!" I lead her down another hallway. She chuckled at how excited I got. Her laugh sounded musical. I could always tell if someone was a good singer by how they laughed. She must be an amazing one.

We finally reached the lockers and I handed her back the skateboard after she opened it. She put it in and zipped her hoodie and hung that up too. She pulled another shirt out of her bookbag and also hung that up. "Thanks,"

There was now five minutes before class, so I opened up my locker and got my binder and other materials. I shut it and looked back to talk to her, but she was gone. I shrugged and headed to class. I'll probably see her at lunch anyways.

**Iris's P.O.V**

I was going to say goodbye to Riker, but he looked busy. So I just shut my locker and headed off to my first class. There was still five minutes, so that would give me enough time to find my class and get acquainted with my teacher. I always like to be organized.

I finally found room 363, which was math. Ironically, my worst subject. The door was opened and the teacher was at his desk writing something down. I walked in, and the teacher looked up. He was a tall man, from what I could tell, with receeding brown hair and glasses.

He stood up and said, "Good morning, you must be the new girl. Iris, is it?" He smiled and stuck out his hand.

I gave it a firm shake and replied, "Yes sir."

He then walked over to a large, wooden cabinet and pulled out three books. One was a thick, hardback book and the other two were thinner, blue books. "I'm Mr. Hacker, this is your reference book, your workbook, and your homework book. We are starting on chapter 8, so just ask if you need any help."

I nodded as he handed me the three books. "I'll try, but I'm afraid math isn't my best subject. Especially this early in the morning …"

He chuckled a little. "I'm sure you'll be fine. Pick a seat, anywhere."

I nodded and picked the seat in the middle of the second row from the front. Mr. Hacker seemed nice enough. I'm sure things won't be too bad.

I took out my notebook, pencils, workbook, and schedule. I noticed I only have one more class after this before lunch. I groaned to myself. I always get nervous around lunchtime. You usually sit with friends. But I don't have any friends, so where was I supposed to sit? I wasn't good at making friends anyway and I'm sure Riker already thinks I'm weird. The bell ringing and students piling in to the classroom interrupted my thoughts.

Three girls walked in and sat in the back. I could already tell they were the arrogant, popular ones. The one in the middle had long, blonde hair that was perfectly straightened. She had icy, blue eyes, and was wearing a cream colored skirt, a pink sweater vest, and small heels. The one on the left had dirty blonde hair that was tied up in a high ponytail and curled carefully. She was wearing the same outfit but with an orange sweater vest. The girl on the right had a bob with full bangs, her hair was obviously dyed a bright red, and she was wearing a yellow sweater vest. They all had matching purses and wore pearl jewelry. The makeup on their faces was caked on. They had so much mascara on that it made my eyes water. I saw the one in the middle smirk at me and start whispering to her friends.

I rolled my eyes. _Way to be obvious you're talking about me …_

Just then, Mr. Hacker closed the door and started class. "Before we start today, I would like to introduce our new student. Iris, would you come up here please?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat and stood up to where Mr. Hacker was standing. I looked around and noticed everyone's eyes on me. I never liked attention so I slightly turned my head to the side and looked out the window on the door. To my surprise, Riker was walking through the door of the classroom just across the hall. He turned back and looked through the window and gave me a small smile. I nodded and returned the favor, gaining enough courage to stand up tall and turn back to the class.

"Students, this is Iris Marie Acker. She's just moved here from Maine. Would you all like to tell her your name?" Mr. Hacker pointed to a boy in the front row with strawberry blonde curls and glasses. He stood up and introduced himself as Billy or something. I wasn't paying much attention. Row after row, kids stood up and introduced them selves. Then, the three girls that I mentioned earlier got up with matching smirks on their faces.

The girl on the left with the dirty blonde hair started. "I'm Brittany Anne Peters, and your shirt is hideous." That earned a couple of snickers from the students.

Then the girl on the right with the red bob introduced herself. "My name is Ashley Louise Greene, and converse are _so_ last year." This, unfortunately, earned another round of chuckles.

Then, the leader of the group stood up. "I'm Mckenzie Natalie Smith, and I would like to welcome you as yet _another _ loser outcast to _my _school."

This earned dead silence from the classroom.

_Oh, you have got to be kidding me! _I thought to myself.

I looked over to the teacher who had the most disapproving look on his face. He looked at me apologetically and I just turned back and stared those girls down right in their make-up caked eyes.

"My name is Iris M. Acker, pleased to meet your acquaintance." I answered sarcastically. I got a nod of approval from Mr. Hacker and a laugh out of the rest of the class. The three girls just looked utterly confused and sat back down, glaring daggers at me.

The rest of the class went smoothly. I guess math wasn't so bad. My next subject was history, one of my favorites. The teacher, Mrs. Reynold, was very kind and sweet. After that subject the bell rang, signaling lunch. So we lined up and headed down the hallway towards the cafeteria. I lingered towards the back.

As we stood in line, I couldn't help but notice Mckenzie glaring at me from the spot in the middle, standing next to Brittany and Ashley of course. I just stuck my hands in my pockets, silently wishing to disappear. Then, Mckenzie straightened her posture and started twirling her hair around her fingers. She wore a dreamy look on her face. I was slightly confused; she was _defintely_ not looking at me like that. I turned around and saw Riker walking through the door. Mckenzie must have a crush on him! Awesome!

Riker looked up at me and starting smiling and waving, making his way over towards me. I looked back and Mckenzie and saw her waving frantically, and quite idiotically I might add. She obviously thought he was waving at her. So I couldn't help but laugh when she had the most devastated look on her face as Riker came up to me.

"What's so funny, Iris?" Riker asked, confused.

"That girl over there has a crush on you and thought you were waving to her. She looked so angry when you came up to me," I stopped laughing long enough to say that but I made sure it was in a low voice so only Riker could hear.

"What?" Riker looked over to see the angry look on the faces of Mckenzie and her group. He turned back to me with wide eyes. We quickly turned around to where they couldn't see us and bursted out laughing. We were pretty much wiping tears from our eyes as we got our food. Riker was already ahead of me and was sitting at a table with a bunch of guys. I was just getting out of line with my tray of spaghetti. Mckenzie and her friends came up to me just as I was about to sit down. I knew what was coming.

"You think you're just _so _smart, don't you?" Her face resembled rage.

"Huh?" I asked in confusion.

"Oh don't act like you didn't talk back to me in math class!" She said even angrier.

"Yeah," Ashley spoke up. "Your just jealous because we're popular and beautiful and your not."

Gosh, what a stereotypical thing to say! I feel like I'm in some cheesy, 80's, high school movie …

"Girl please, I could remove ninety percent of your 'beauty' with a wet nap." I snapped back, causing the boys who Riker was sitting with to laugh.

Mckenzie looked over to see Riker laughing and was furious. She slapped my tray, as I thought she would, making the spaghetti fly all over my shirt.

I held back my rage. "Well thank god I don't have to eat that now! And, uh, smooth move Mckenzie, totally wasn't expecting that! Very original …" Sarcasm was just dripping from my voice.

Mckenzie's face resembled a tomato as she stomped away, embarrassed, with her minions following behind her. I was glad that I stood up for myself. I dropped off my tray and tried to get all the spaghetti off of me. I then, ventured into the hallways, getting about halfway before I heard a "Hey! Wait Up!" behind me.

I turned around and saw Riker quickly catching up with me. I slowed down as he got to my side.

"Hey, um, I just wanted to say that it was really cool what you did. I don't think anyone ever stood up to Mckenzie like you did."

I chuckled. "Well I can't say I was expecting this to happen. Trouble always finds me, especially on the first day of school."

He suddenly stopped and grabbed my arm, a serious look in his eyes. "You mean this has happened before? You've been bullied? How many schools have you been to?"

I was taken aback by how serious he was. It was almost as if he cared. "Well, I have been to five different schools in the past five years. And I have suffered from being shoved into lockers, tripped in hallways, and the occasional lunch all over my shirt from about ten different bullies." I answered. I looked at the ground and quickly blinked back small tears that were forming in my eyes before turning back to Riker.

He looked stunned. After recovering from shock, he asked, "Is that why you went to five different schools, to get away from it?"

**Riker's P.O.V. **

I couldn't believe it. How can someone do something so awful to such an awesome person? And how can such an awesome person be totally unaffected? It's like she just brushes it off and moves on. I was in awe of how strong she was. After getting over my shock, I looked over at Iris, whose head was hung down and her eyes were blinking back tears. She then looked back at me with the same confident look as she had this morning.

"Is that why you went to five different schools, to get away from it?"

She laughed a little. "No, my parent's jobs causes us to move a lot. I actually don't mind being bullied, it builds character. It helps me face the other ones."

I just wanted to hug her right then and there. And I would've, if her shirt weren't covered in spaghetti. I grabbed her wrist and started puling her towards our lockers. When we got there, she opened hers up and got her extra t-shirt out.

"Guess I made a good decision bringing an extra t-shirt though, right?"

I chuckled and looked at her green shirt, covered in food, just now noticing it was a band t-shirt for the All American Rejects. "Yeah, it sucks that the t-shirt got ruined though. The All American Rejects are awesome!"

Her eyes lit up when I said that, a bright smile forming on her face. "Absolutely! They're one of my favorites along with Green Day and Fall Out Boy!" She shut her locker and started walking towards the bathroom at the end of the hall. I followed her.

"Wow you like Green Day and F. O. B? Those are two of my favorites! We have a drum set at home and I can play Dance Dance on it. My little brother Rocky plays guitar, and he plays the guitar part in the song too!"

She looked over at me with a bright smile. "You play? I play drums too, and electric bass! And I can play Dance Dance, too!" She said excitedly.

We reached the bathroom doors and I told her that I'd wait by the lockers. Once she disappeared behind the bathroom doors, I took out my "Marvel's The Avengers" comic book from my locker and began to sit down and read. But one thing kept nagging at my mind.

"_Mckenzie has a crush on you …"_

I don't understand why. I'm not at all popular. I'm actually quite dorky, according to Rydel but of course she's sarcastic. The only reason that I sit with all those jocks at lunch is so I wouldn't have to be stuck at a table with her. There are three different lunches, A, B, and C. Ross and Rydel have lunch B and Rocky has lunch C. Our youngest brother, Ryland, goes to an elementary school, because he's in third grade. Our school is 4-8, which happens to be me and the rest of my siblings. Ross is in 4th, Rocky is in 5th, Rydel is in 6th, and I am in 8th. I don't really have many friends; my best friends are my brothers and sister. I had another one last year, but he moved to Nebraska. Maybe I'll find a friend in Iris. I'll invite her over. It's Wednesday and we don't have a lot of homework. I'm sure my parents will like her. And Rydel is only a year younger than her, they could be friends too.

**Iris's P.O.V. **

I walked into the bathroom, thinking about what I had just told Riker. I stepped into a stall, locked it, and quickly changed my shirt. I've never told anyone about what happened at my other schools, not even my parents. Maybe the walls I built caved in a little, letting him in. Riker seems really sweet. One look at him and you would think that he's one of the popular guys. But once you talk to him you can tell he's different. He's sweet, polite, caring, and maybe a little dorky but I could care less. I love Star Wars for crying out loud!

I walked out of the stall and looked at myself in the sink mirror. I washed the spaghetti off of my arms and splashed some water in my face. I dried off and walked out of the bathroom, seeing Riker lean against our lockers reading a comic book. Yep, he's definitely dorky. I walked up and threw the ruined shirt in my locker. We still had ten minutes to kill before class started again. I wanted to get to know him better.

He looked really engrossed in the comic so I cleared my throat. I looked up at me then to comic then at me, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. I couldn't help but smirk.

"Oh, uh, I don't, well I do, but …"

I started laughing. "Dude, its okay. I read comics all the time."

He sighed in relief and put the comic book back in his locker.

"So, we still have ten minutes. Do you want to go to the library?" I asked.

"Yeah absolutely," He led me to the library and I gasped. It was so much better then the library at all my other schools. It was painted a dark brown color, and there were shelves and shelves of books reaching halfway to the ceiling. There were two rows of tables with computers in the back. And on the side was an area with four chairs and a table, like a sitting area. Riker must've seen my wide eyes because he started laughing.

"What? I love reading okay, and this is the coolest library I've ever been too!"

He just kept laughing and we sat down in the chairs. "It's okay, this is my favorite place in school. It's so peaceful and quiet."

I smiled a little. "So, tell me some stuff about you …"

He smiled. "Okay, my name is Riker Anthony Lynch. I have four other siblings, my brothers: Rocky, Ross, and Ryland, and my sister: Rydel. We are all one year apart but I'm the oldest. The all go to school here except for Ryland, because he's in third grade. I love to play ice hockey and basketball. My favorite color is blue. And I love music. I love the bands Green Day, Fall Out Boy, The Beatles, NSYNC, and some older stuff. I can play guitar, piano, and drums. And my dream is to be an Actor/Musician. Now its your turn."

"Ok, well... My name is Iris Marie Acker. I am an only child. I love to play basketball and football, even though I probably stink at both. My favorite color is also blue. And I also love music. Bands like Green Day, Fall Out Boy, The Beatles, NSYNC, Nickleback, and Matchbox 20. My favorite song is Stacie's Mom by Fountains Of Wayne and When I Come Around by Green Day. I can practically play anything but piano, just never got the hang of it. I've lived in five different states, my favorite being where we just left in Maine. And that's about it..."

He looked at me amazed and I remembered something. "Oh and I've never really had a real friend … ever," I trailed off sadly. It was true; the only friends I've really had were my parents.

I jumped a little when I felt two, strong arms wrap around me. I looked up and noticed it was Riker. I'm not much of a hugger, but I didn't want to seem rude so I wrapped my arms lightly around him too. He seemed to relax a bit, then pulled back and sat in his own chair. "Sorry, that's just so sad. You're awesome! How come you've never had any friends?"

I blushed a little when he called me 'awesome' then answered saying, "It's okay. We've never stayed in one place long enough for me to make friends. I mean I had one a long time ago but she-..." I stopped myself. Not yet, not now. It's taken me forever to get over it, and I'm not bringing up those memories again with someone I just met.

I looked up to see Riker with a confused look on his face. I just nodded and said "...Nothing."

He nodded but what he said next completely took me off guard. "Well, I've never had a real friend either, but you're already the greatest friend I have." He then stuck out his pinkie and said "Iris Marie Acker, will you do me the honor of becoming my best friend?"

He looked so funny, down on one knee, in front of me that I couldn't help but burst out laughing as I wrapped my pinkie around his. "It would be my honor, Sir Riker Anthony Lynch."

Imagine, me little miss nobody, getting a best friend on the first day of school. We heard the bell ring and I gathered up my stuff as he did the same, and walked out of the library. We walked into science class together and sat down right next to each other.

I was a genius at science; it was one of my better subjects. I drifted in and out of focus during class. Taking notes and following along with what we were reading. After what seemed like five minutes to me we walked out of science and entered the last class, "Music 105."

I squealed in delight and grabbed Riker's hand and dragged him into the room. The seats were on different layered platforms. I took the middle row and sat down, Riker sitting down next to me. Then the teacher walked in. He was one of those "is really one age but acts years younger" types. He had black hair that was in a usual guys haircut. He was wearing khaki shorts and a nice, button-up, plaid, polo shirt with flip- flops. He noticed me being new and introduced himself.

"Hello, I'm Mr. Douglas. And you are?" He stuck his hand out for a handshake, which I shook firmly and replied.

"Iris,"

"Oh! What a lovely name! Tell me, are you named after the flower, or the Goo Goo Dolls song?"

"Well, considering, that song wasn't out until 1998 and I was born in 1991, I'm gonna say the flower. Though that is one of my favorite songs."

He looked impressed "You really know your music. Can you play anything?"

I nodded "Pretty much everything but piano."

He nodded "You sing?"

I noticed Riker perk up a little bit at this. "Well yes, I mean I think so, I've never sang in front of anybody before."

He nodded then turned around and wrote on the board. After, the end of the day we didn't have a lot of homework, and only one project from music class. We each had partners and had to sing and perform one Green Day song. Of course Riker and I were partners.

As we gathered our stuff from our lockers, he stopped at the door to go out. "I have to wait for my brother's and sister. Do you want to come over after supper? We could practice what Green Day song and stuff we're going to do in my basement?"

I nodded and took out a pen and grabbed his hand to write my number down on it. "Just call me when you're ready." I said and walked down the steps.

I got on my board and rode home, walking through the front door with a spring in my step.

"Hey honey, you look happy! What happened?" My mom asked.

"Oh, nothing much except that I have a new best friend!" I shouted the last part and danced up the stairs to change and do my homework. I heard my mom and dad squeal in excitement. Maybe moving to Colorado wasn't _so _bad…

**This will be a long authors note, so bear with me here …**

**Okay so basically this is a new 'Riker Lynch Love Story' that my BFFF (Best Fanfiction Friend Forever) R5inmysoul a.k.a Lizzie wrote. She has written chapter after chapter in this story and I'm just the beta reader, so all credit goes out to her and her awesomeness! Anyway so it starts in Littleton, I know in reality the Lynch kids were homeschooled up from 4th grade and in 2005, Riker would've been 15, but in here he's like 13. So it's for story purposes. So in this story, Riker is about a year or two younger than he would've actually been. This story goes up to when the Lynches move to CA and meet Ratliff, but you see Iris's side back in CO. The main love stories in this story will be … **

**Riker and Iris … but not yet! They are just friends for now;)**

**Rocky and Lora … I had to :D I'm Lora and I like am in love with Rocky so it will happen! But not till later on in CA. **

**I'm pretty sure Lizzie will put in some Kellington (Kelly/Ellington) and maybe some Raura (Ross/ Laura) later on in the story in California. This is the Austin & Ally forum after all:)**

**So any suggestions, questions, e.c.t. Just p.m. me (Mayzing) or R5inmysoul …**

**Disclaimer: Lizzie and I do not own Riker Lynch (though we wish we did …;)) Or any of the Lynch family (Rocky, Rydel, Ross, Ryland, Mark, Stormie …you get the point) Lizzie owns Iris, Mckenzie, Iris's parents and all other OC's …**

**Lots of love!**

**-Lora & Lizzie **


	2. Rockin And A Rollin!

**Littleton Colorado, April 10th 2005**

**Monday 4:00 p.m.**

**Iris's P.O.V**

I went upstairs into my room and flung myself on my bed, taking just a small nap. After about twenty minutes, I got up and went over to my desk with my bookbag to do my homework. It was actually really easy, just some multiplication in math and a study guide for history. I finished it and put it in my folder. I then got up and walked over to my full-length mirror hanging on the back of my bathroom door. I looked at my reflection for a while; finally deciding that if I was going to meet Riker's parents I should probably dress a little more appropriate. So I walked into my closet, and found a pair of nice, dark blue jeans, and a black and white plaid button up shirt with a black tank top to go underneath. I walked into my bathroom and changed, taking out my contacts, and putting them back in the case before slipping on my black, square rimmed glasses. I heard my mom call me down for dinner, so I slipped some socks on and ran down the stairs. I slid to a stop in front of the dining room and dad laughed at me from his seat at the end of the table.

"I knew there was a reason you were so persistent on getting hard-wood floors." He laughed. I nodded and sat down.

After mom came back in with the last plate of food, we started to dig in. I was getting ready to take a bite of my mashed potatoes when dad suddenly broke the silence and said "So tell me and mom about this new best friend of yours."

All things food were quickly forgotten, that's how excited I was. I looked up at both of my parents with excited eyes and said "Oh! His name is Riker! He lives a couple doors down from us. I kind of almost ran him over on my board this morning-"

Dad gave me a shocked looked and I quickly continued,"-no it's okay, I didn't hit him! Anyway, our lockers are right next to each other, and we have the last two classes of the day together. We have a project to do in band class, and I'm going over to his house after dinner to practice."

Mom smiled at me. "Well that's great honey! I can't wait to meet him!" I smiled and looked over to my dad, waiting for his response.

"He? As in a...Boy?" My dad asked with a very confused tone in his voice.

"Well, yeah. Don't worry though, he's very polite and nice."

Dad seemed to relax at that and said "Well okay, I trust your judgement. If he's polite and nice, then I believe you."

I smiled and finished what was left on my plate. After I put it in the sink and helped mom clean up, I ran upstairs to brush my teeth. I was just walking out of my room when I heard the phone ring. I quickly bolted down the hallway and jumped down the steps screaming. "It's for me! I got it! Do not answer it!"

Mom and Dad laughed as I skidded to a stop and caught my breath a little before answering the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Iris, it's Riker. Are you ready?"

"Yeah! Should I bring my bass?"

"Um yeah and an amp. What house is yours and I'll come by to help you carry it."

"Its 3 houses down, the white one with the blue shutters and door."

"Okay be over in a sec. Bye!"

"Bye!" I hung up and immediately ran to where my parents were sitting in the living room. "Mom Dad, he's coming over to help get my bass and stuff, please don't embarrass me!" My mom nodded but my dad had a mischevious glint in his eyes.

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that. I'm sure he would love to see all your wonderful baby pictures."

I looked onto the coffee table where my picture book was already sitting. I blinked and the next thing I knew I was on the floor with dad trying to keep the book away from him. My mom was laughing to herself and dad and I were spread out on the floor. He had a hold of my ankles and started tickling my underarms as I was reaching up past my head to push the book farther away. I was laughing so hard that I didn't hear the doorbell ring, or my mother answer the door and let Riker in. By then my father was sitting on top of me and tickling me. I turned my head to the side slightly, and saw a pair of black converse.

**Riker's POV**

I found the house and rang the doorbell. After a minute a short lady with curly brown hair and glasses answered the door. Before I could introduce myself she spoke saying,"Oh! You must be Riker! Iris has told us a lot about you. Please come in, her and her father are just wrestling in the living room."

I nodded and said "Nice to meet you Mrs. Acker."

She pulled me into a small hug and said "Oh, no need to be formal! Please, call me April!"

I nodded and said, "Why are they wrestling in the living room?"

She led me into the living room, saying "Oh! She's just trying to get the baby picture album out of his hands, before he 'embarrasses her'. "

I laughed a little and walked into the living room, and sure enough Iris was sprawled across the floor with her hair fanned out around her. Her cheeks were flushed from laughing so hard because her dad was on top of her tickling her. She slightly looked to the side and saw my sneakers because her eyes went wide as the traveled up my body to reach mine. I smirked at her and quickly grabbed the forgotten book that sat inches above her head. I opened it up and heard her shout "Riker, no! Don't do it! Close your eyes! Turn away! Just don't look at it!"

I quickly looked up from the first page long enough to see her flick her legs to the side, causing her father to fall, as she firmly planted herself on top of him. I was amazed. She could wrestle too? She got off her father and brushed herself off, fixing her clothes and hair, before helping her father up.

"Lord have mercy child, I think I broke my back..." He grumbled while she blushed and made his way over too me. He was tall with short brown hair that had the same twinkles of gold in it like his daughters. He walked over to me and I stuck out my hand for a handshake. He shook it and said "Nice to meet you Riker. Iris tells me you're her new friend!" He had a small smile playing on his lips.

"Yes sir, it's nice to meet you."

He patted me on the back and said, "You can call me Martin, son. " He then turned to Iris who was standing right next to me. "You were right, he is a nice boy!"

"_Dad_!" Iris groaned.

I laughed. "It's alright. Where's your stuff at?"

She pointed to the stairs. "In my room. Come on!" She said grabbing my wrist and pulling me up the carpeted steps. She opened her door and we walked in.

She had a ton of band posters up in her room along with a desk, and a small bedside table, and bed. Her walls where a bright blue, and all her furniture was black. It was also really clean. She went into her closet for a moment and came back out with her bass case. She walked over to her bass, which was just plain black and white, and carefully stuck it in along with a few picks. She closed the case and I walked over and took it from her. She unplugged her amp and chord and picked it up. We walked out of her room and she shut the door. We made our way down the stairs, where she called a quick goodbye to her parents and we walked out the door.

As we were walking down the driveway I turned to her with a smirk on my face and said, "You were a really cute baby, you know."

She looked at me with a small smile then looked straight ahead and said, with no visible emotion in her voice, "You saw my baby pictures. You do realize I'm gonna have to kill you now..."

I stopped and stared at her, before we both burst out laughing.

"Yeah, and lose your best friend?" She nodded

"Well this just means I get to see yours now too!"

I visibly paled. At the dead look on my face she smirked and said "Yeah, not so funny when it happens to you now is it?"

We were already making our way up my driveway, when I stopped at my door. "What's wrong?" She asked

**Iris' POV**

We were getting ready to walk in when he suddenly stopped. "What's wrong?" I asked.

He gave me a fearful look and said, "Brace yourself." Before turning open the door and walking in.

Everyone was sitting in the living room and as soon as they heard the door shut, they jumped up and came over. A tall man with dirty blonde hair and a short woman with platinum blonde hair came up first. I went to shake their hands but before I knew it, they pulled me into a big hug. When we released the woman said, "Oh my stars, you must be Iris! Riker's new friend! I'm Stormie and this is my husband Mark!"

I smiled and said, "It's nice to meet you. Stormie is a pretty name."

I then looked over at Mark and smiled, "It's nice to meet you to Mark." He nodded and smiled; well now I know where Riker gets his smile.

He looked over at Riker then back to me and said," Riker hasn't stopped talking about you ever since he came home!"

I blushed and smiled. He then looked over at Riker with a smirk and patted him on the back saying, "You were right son! She is gorgeous!" I looked over at Riker, who visibly paled. I couldn't help it, and before I knew it I was doubled over in laughter.

"See...it isn't so funny...when it happens...to you!" I said in between laughs.

After a minute, a blonde girl came up and tugged on Stormie's arm saying, "Momma, can we do our introduction?"

Stormie smiled at her and said, "Okay, go get the others and line up."

"Oh, great..." Riker said dragging a hand down his face.

Suddenly the girl walked in with three boys they all lined up, with the girl holding a little boy's hand, who I'm guessing was about 6 or 7, then a blonde boy, and the brunette boy at the end.

Mark nodded to the girl, before saying "Alright Lynch family, sound off!"

The girl stepped forward with the little boy. "My name is Rydel, and this is Ryland. Nice to meet you." I nodded and smiled at the girl.

Then the little blonde boy stepped forward. "My name is Ross." He seemed kind of shy.

Then the brunette boy stepped forward with an excited look on his face, then after a moment of silence burst out saying,"Cool! You're the girl that was on the skateboard this morning! That was so totally wicked! You were going so fast and-"

He got cut off by Riker saying, "Rocky!"

He seemed to calm down a bit at the glare his brother was giving him and said,"Oh yeah, my name's Rocky…"

I laughed. "Well, nice to meet you all. My names Iris, and yes I was the skateboard girl." I said giving Rocky a small smile.

"Well, we should get to practicing." Riker said motioning for him to follow him. I nodded and said my goodbyes as we went down a flight of stairs and stepped into their basement.

There were black and white checkered floors, and the walls were painted Orange. I set up my bass and amp while Riker sat at the drum set. "So what Green Day song did you wanna do?" He asked as I was tuning my bass.

"Well, I was hoping we could do When I Come Around? It's the only one I know how to play."

He smiled. "Sure! I love that song, I can play the drums while you sing."

I hesitated for a moment, I've never sung in front of anyone before. I quickly nodded and walked up to the microphone that was in the middle of the room. I nodded to Riker, motioning for him to start playing. I started strumming my bass then I started the song, "I heard you crying loud..."

**Riker's POV**

She looked a little unsure of her singing, but I was dying to know what she sounded like. She nodded and walked over to the microphone that was in the middle of our little basement. She started strumming her bass then motioned for me to start up the drums. After a while she opened her mouth and started singing the first chorus.

_I heard you crying loud. All the way across town.  
But you've been searching for that someone, and  
it's me out on the prowl. As you sit around feeling  
feeling sorry for yourself...  
_  
God! Her voice was incredible! She closed her eyes during the second line so she didn't see mom, dad, Rocky, Ross, and Rydel come downstairs. Mom went over to where our cabinet was behind the drum set and got out our video camera and started filming us. Rocky looked excited and I motioned for him to grab his green electric guitar and start playing. He nodded and plugged it in, quickly catching up to where Iris was on the chorus...

_You don't have to search the world around,  
Cuz' you know where I'll be found-  
When I come around.  
_  
Rydel, dad, and mom stood to the side of her, in front of the steps. Rydel was head banging, and dad and mom looked really impressed. The little instrumental part came up and Iris opened her eyes. She looked startled at my mom videoing her, but quickly recovered and started jamming out with Rocky. Ross was silently mouthing the lyrics, and Iris let Rocky take over the solo as she motioned for Ross to come over. As he walked over, she pulled another microphone out and lowered it so he could use it. I smiled at how well she got along with the rest of my family; I could already tell mom and dad and my siblings loved her. Her and Ross sung the last notes together in perfect harmony. At the last line Ross stepped back and let her take it. She turned towards me and smiled before throwing herself in the music...

_Don't have to search the world around,  
Cuz' you know where I'll be found  
When I Come Around. When I Come Around  
When I Come Around. When I Come Around..._

We finished up our music parts and everyone went wild. Rydel ran over and tackled her into a hug saying how, "That was the coolest thing ever!"

And Iris pulled Rocky and Ross into it before motioning for me to come and join their little group hug. I stood up and hugged her from the side.

"You were really great! Your voice is amazing!"

She turned back to me and smiled, giving me a friendly peck on the cheek, which made my face heat up. I looked over and noticed my mom still recording and my dad had a very thoughtful look on his face. Mom stopped recording and put the camera away before giving her a hug too. "You have such a beautiful voice! You all sounded great together!"

My dad walked over and patted her back. "Have you ever sung in front of anyone before?"

She shook her head no."Not even my parents, I've got a bit of stage fright." He nodded and the thoughtful look came back on his face.

My mom asked if we would mind playing another song. Along with Rocky and Ross of course. Iris nodded and looked over to Rydel. She walked over to her and they started whispering in each other's ear. I wonder what's up?

**Iris' POV**

I nodded yes when Stormie asked if we could play another song with Rocky and Ross. I looked over to Rydel who looked a little left out and got an idea. I walked over to her and said," Hey Rydel, do you like Avril Lavigne?"

Her eyes lit up and she started nodding frantically.

"Do you want to sing Sk8er Boi with me?" She said yes and gave me a hug. I walked over to Rocky and asked him if I could borrow his electric guitar while he played my bass. He said yes. Then I walked over to Riker and whispered what song we were going to do. He nodded too. I walked over too Ross to see what he could do. I walked up to him and said "Hey Ross, We're gonna do Sk8er Boi by Avril Lavigne. Do you want to sing back up vocals for Rydel and me? Or do you wanna do something else?"

He thought for a moment and said,"I can play rhythm guitar! I'll just do back up for you!" I smiled then walked back over to the middle microphone. Stormie got the camera back out and I got a little nervous. I just decided I was going to get over my stage fright sooner or later, so I should start now. I nodded to Ross and Rocky to start playing. We started up and I let Rydel take the first verse.

_He was a boy; she was a girl can I  
make it anymore obvious?_

_He was a punk, she did ballet. What more can I say? _

_He wanted her, she'd never tell, but secretly she wanted him as well. _

_But all of her friends stuck up their nose. _

_They had a problem with his baggy clothes...  
_  
We were all jumping around and head banging to the song. When the chorus came I sang back up for Rydel.

_He was a Sk8er Boi. She said see ya later Boi.  
He wasn't good enough for her. She had a pretty  
face, but her head was up in space she needed to  
come back down to earth...  
_  
I stepped up to the mike and started up the second verse.

_Five years from now, she sits at home  
feeding the baby, she's all alone. She  
turns on T.V., guess who she see's? Sk8er  
Boi rocking up MTV. She calls up her friends,  
they already know. And they've all got tickets  
to see his show. She tags along, and stands in the crowd  
looks up at the man that she turned do-own.  
_  
This time Rydel sang back up for me on the chorus. We were having a ton of fun and I couldn't remember a time that I've had so much fun with anyone. They were all really good. It's like I felt a special connection when we played and sung together. I saw the look on Mark's face and I could tell that he was thinking the same thing I was. We should start a band. I was so caught up in my thoughts and playing that I didn't notice Rydel was already singing the bridge. When she was almost finished I slung the guitar over my back and grabbed the microphone off the stand. I started slowly walking up to the camera singing my part into it...  
_  
He's just a boy, and I'm just a girl.  
Can I make it anymore obvious?  
We are in love. Haven't you heard?  
How we rock each other's wor- ee- orld!_

I hit the note spot on and everybody started cheering as I made my way back to the microphone stand and slung the guitar back over my shoulder. Rydel and I finished singing our parts and Rocky, Ross, and me we're finishing up our guitar parts. When the music started to fade out and Rydel held the last note out, we were both back-to-back and leaning up against each other.

I looked over at Riker who had the biggest smile on his face. The song ended, and he jumped up from behind the drum set and picked me up hugging me, spinning me around. I threw my arms over his shoulders and hugged him back as he set me down. Then all at once everyone else came up and tackled me into a hug.

Stormie had gotten it all on video and was laughing. Mark was smiling and laughing along with her. Stormie put the camera away and went upstairs to get us each a bottle of water. Rocky and I switched back instruments and I immediately put it back in my bass case.

Stormie came back down and tossed us each a bottle of water. We all went over and sat on the sectional they had and turned on the T.V. It was only seven so I had like two hours before I had to get home. It was a school night and all. Riker was sitting on one side and Rydel was on the other side of me. We were watching "Grease" on T.V. I was surprised at how much they all loved that movie. I thought I was the only one. When the movie ended it was 8:45. So I stood up to go back home. Riker helped me carry my stuff back home and

We parted ways at my front door with a hug and promises to see each other tomorrow. I quickly said goodnight to my parents and bounded up the stairs to my room where I took a shower and got into my Superman pajamas before heading to bed and drifting off into a deep wonderful sleep.

**Lizzie****y yo no****tengo ninguno de****la familia****Lynch****o****R5,****sin embargo, que****seríamos****épico****: D**

**Tener****un día maravilloso**** chicos ****:)**

**Translate: Lizzie and I do not own any of the Lynch family or R5, though that would be epic :D**

**Have an awesome day guys:)**

**Lots of Love**

**-Lora and Lizzie**


	3. Not Gonna Crack

**Littleton Colorado, May 29****th**** 2005**

**Friday 2:30 p.m.**

**Iris's P.O.V.**

****

It's been about two months since my first encounter with Riker and the Lynch's, and I've cherished every minute of it. We've basically been attached at the hip since that dayI came over to his house. We don't even knock on the each other's doors anymore, we just walk right in. Today is the last day of school until summer break. Which means, this is the day we perform our Green Day song in band class. Mr. Douglas has quickly become my favorite teacher ever! He treats us all as equals in class, and he acts way younger for someone in their early 30's.

Things have gotten worse with Mckenzie and her group though. Almost everyday she manages to squeeze in an insult at me and a smirk. Sometimes they even trip me up in the hallway. I just brush it off though. They are only empty words and careless actions. Riker gets mad though. I told him not to even bother calling them out on it or anything, that would only make matters worse. We walked into band class hand in hand today. Most kids tease us calling us a "couple" and whatnot, but we just brush it off. We walked in and took our seats right next to each other. Mr. Douglas was running a little late to class so we had some time to chill.

"Are you ready to perform?" Riker asked.

"I don't know, what if I mess up? I'm still not completely over my stage fright..." I started biting my nails like I always do when I'm nervous.

Riker gave my hand a reassuring squeeze and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Douglas doesn't expect us to be professional or sound great. At least we're gonna play it live. All the other kids just brought a karaoke CD."

It made me feel a lot better, I smiled a little to myself. Why would something go wrong? Today has been great! It's the last day of school and we didn't have any work at all! We just sat around talking or watching a movie in all our classes. Mckenzie hasn't even talked or looked at me all day. Which is strange considering we have every single class together.

Just then Mr. Douglas walked in. He started off by saying what a wonderful year it's been and how he's going to miss us all. Then he started off the project. He separated the class so the ones that would be playing live sat on the left side and the others performing off a CD would be on the right side.

Mckenzie and her group just sat in the middle saying "Green Day is stupid. Just give us an F, we're not singing."

I rolled my eyes and looked over at Riker, who did the same thing. We were the only ones on the left side and I think everyone was really anxious to see us perform. After all the others were done, some good and some not so good, we stood up and took our spots. I decided to play electric guitar since there was more of that in the song that bass. Riker sat at the drums ready to roll, he gave me a nod signaling to start. After playing the little instrumental in the beginning, I started singing...****

**Riker's POV******

I looked around at the room in the middle of playing and noticed everyone with wide eyes. Even Mr. Douglas looked beyond impressed. The only ones who looked bored out of their minds were Mckenzie and her friends. I can't hardly stand Mckenzie. After everything she does to Iris? It makes me proud when Iris just walks away. Even when I want to get back at her. I guess I was staring at her and her friends in my thoughts, because I snapped out of it when Mckenzie started twirling her hair and smirking at me. I gave her a disgusted look and focused back on playing and Iris. I could tell she was nervous but she did great! We finished our song and everyone started jumping up and down and whistling, some even whooping. Even the teacher came over and gave us both a pat on the back.

After things got a little more quiet I could hear Mckenzie saying, just loud enough for everyone to hear, "She was terrible! I've heard dying whales sing better then that!"

I felt Iris tense up and looked over to see her face absolutely red, and boiling over with anger. If theres one thing I've learned about Iris its that she can handle any insult thats thrown her way, except being called untalented. I quickly grabbed her hand and started calming her down a bit. She looked over and smiled a grateful smile at me before turning back to the teacher.

Mr. Douglas looked at Mckenzie and the group of girls before saying, "I thought they both did great. They certainly have bucket loads of talent and guts to perform it live." He gave us a small smile before excusing the class to go home.**  
****  
****Iris's P.O.V**

I was glad Mr. Douglas stood up for us. One more second and I was about to beat Mckenzie and her group of friends till I dislocated their pretty little faces. We walked out of class and up the stairs to our lockers. I opened mine and started taking everything out of it. There where pictures of me and Riker, and the Lynches all over the door. Riker's had the same matching pictures. We got all our stuff out and shut and locked it.

We were walking down the steps and was met by Rydel, Rocky, and Ross at the bottom. We where walking out of the school while Rydel and I locked arms. We had gotten really close over the past couple months. Having constant sleep overs and shopping outings. Though I'm not much of a shopper, it's nice to have a girl thats close to your age around. Sorry, but there's just some things I'm not comfortable talking to Riker about. We were all laughing and getting ready to walk past through the doors when we were stopped by Mckenzie and her friends.

"Crap, I knew this day was too good to be true.." I muttered under my breath. I know Riker was giving me the "Don't do anything stupid" look, but I chose to ignore it. If I was gonna let Mckenzie know that she's not queen bee and how she can't keep treating me like crap, I wasn't about to let anyone hold me back.

"Well well well, thought you were gonna get away, huh?" Ashley sneered.

"What do you guy's want?" I said through gritted teeth. My anger was slowly starting to seep out. Riker switched places with Rydel and told them to go on.

"Come on Mckenzie, don't be a brat and just let us go home." Riker shot back. I was silently proud. Maybe I'm rubbing off on him.

"Shut up." Mckenzie snapped at Riker. She then looked over at me and smirked, "That little performance in music class was nothing. Never think you have talent, Everyone else was clapping because it was over, not because your good."

Oh god, she crossed the line. Tears were starting to prick behind my eyes, but that is just what Mckenzie wants. She wants to see me cry. It means she would win. Like heck, I was gonna let that happen! I closed my eyes for a brief second and searched for Riker's hand. I found it at his side and immediately grasped onto it for dear life. He gave me a gentle, reassuring squeeze.

I opened my eyes and looked Mckenzie straight in the face, "You know, you have tried all year to get to me, to make me crack. But guess what? All year, I haven't cracked. Because I know that if I do, it would make me no better than you and your little group of fakes. You can be queen bee of this school for the rest of our school days, but that is all you'll ever be. And I guess you'll just have to deal with the fact that you can control everyone here. But your not gonna control me." I finished my speech and I heard a couple of cheers in the background. I looked back to Riker and he was smiling. It felt good to say what has been on my mind for all year. I looked over at Mckenzie who looked more furious then I've ever seen. I knew something bad was coming. She then said the unspeakable.

"You talentless little loser! Everyone here hates you! Riker's only your friend cause he's sorry for you!"

I was literally seeing red by then. Riker must've been too. I looked over at him and could possibly see steam coming out of him. I looked over and everyone was watching us. The pressure was too much. I ripped my hand from Riker's and stormed out of the building and out onto the sidewalk. Going faster than I thought humanly possible on my skateboard. I made it home in twenty seconds flat and flung myself through the door and up the stair's to my bedroom.

I faintly heard mom saying, "Sweetie what happened?"

And dad answering saying,"April, I think we should just leave her alone right now."

I flung my stuff on my bed and quickly slammed the door shut. I opened my window and climbed out onto my roof. It was where I could go and think. I tried to calm myself down, but her words and insults kept ringing through my ears. I finally let the tears fall. It felt good to cry again. I haven't cried in five years and it seemed like all the emotions I've felt just poured out. I looked down onto the street and saw Riker running up the sidewalk onto my driveway. Half of me was hoping he'd go back home but another part of me wanted him to come up and comfort me. It would mean that he truly cared, and that was all I wanted right now, someone I could tell all my troubles to. The ones I've kept a secret all my life.

**Okay, I know this is a short chapter, but I'm writing this at school right now which I shouldn't be doing but I didn't have any other time to upload! Next chapter will be up before Friday so till Friday! ;D**

**Lots of love!**

**-Lora & Lizzie**


	4. The Secrets Out

**Littleton Colorado, May 29****th**** 2005**

**Friday, 3:15 p.m.**

**Riker's P.O.V**

I watched in slow motion as Iris stormed out of the building. I couldn't see straight I was so mad. I didn't have time to do any of that though, because as soon as the doors closed behind her, everyone that was watching jumped on Mckenzie and her friends, yelling at them for hurting her feelings like that.

In a way, Iris called her and her friends out for what they've done this past year. She showed everyone that Mckenzie is just a fake and a jerk, and that nobody should ever be scared of her. I ran out the building and off of the school grounds and up the sidewalk faster than I've ever run before. She had called Iris the unspeakable, and she's probably sobbing her eyes out right now. I didn't even give it a second thought when I reached her door and threw it open. April and Martin saw me and jumped up from their spot at the couch and ran over to me bombarding me with question's like "What's wrong?" and "What the heck happened today?"

"I'll explain later, where is she?"

They pointed upstairs to her room and I ran up the steps and threw her door open. I walked inside and saw she wasn't there. The window was open so I knew that's where she was. I carefully walked out onto the roof and turned the corner. That's where I saw her. She was leaning up against the wall, her knees cuddled to her chest with her head down and her arms wrapped around her knees. I saw her body shuddering with sobs. I quickly walked over to where she sat and sat down next to her, pulling her crying form onto my lap. She immediately wrapped her legs around my chest and threw her arms around my shoulders with her head buried in the crook of my neck.

"Sshh." I whispered stroking her slightly tangled hair and rubbing soothing circles on her back. It took about ten minutes for her body to stop shaking from sobs. Now tears were just tracing down her face and she was sniffling. She pulled her head away from my neck and looked me in the eyes. Her eyes were red and glossy, the tip of her nose was red and there were tear tracks all the way down her red cheeks. Her usually pink lips were now a red color and her hair was slightly rumpled. I started wiping away at her wet cheeks and kissed both of them. She stopped crying and just hugged me. Tighter then she's ever hugged me before. She looked vulnerable and weak and desperate, compared to her usual happy, confident, sarcastic self.

She pulled away again kissed my cheek. "Thank you." She whispered, even her voice sounded quiet and weak.

"Anytime." I replied with a small smile on my face. She slightly smiled, or at least tried to, before she looked back down to the ground. I cupped my fingers around her chin, bringing it back up so she'd have to look at me. I rubbed circles into her chin. "Mckenzie couldn't make you cry that hard for that long. What's up?"

**Iris's P.O.V**

I would be ashamed of someone seeing me cry like this. Everyone thinks I'm so tough and happy all the time. But, I'm still human, I have feelings. Everything Mckenzie has done to me over the year still hurt. I was glad Riker was here. I hugged him hard and pulled back to kiss his cheek. "Thank you." I whispered. Gosh, why does my voice sound so weak?

"Anytime." He said back, with a small smile on his lips. I tried to smile back, but it just wouldn't come. I looked back down for a moment, before I felt his fingers gently cup my chin and bring it back up to look at him. He was gently rubbing my chin with his fingers before he spoke,

"Mckenzie couldn't make you cry that hard for that long. Whats up?"

I knew this was going to come up sooner or later. I took a deep breath, trying to figure it out for myself. I leaned my head back on his shoulder, and he immediately wrapped his arms back around my back. "Remember that day we met? When we were talking in the library? And I started to say how I did have a friend once?" I felt him nod his head yes, so I continued. "Her, name was Amanda. She was my best friend when we still lived in our first house in Georgia. She had bright red hair, and green eyes. She reminded me a lot of you with her personality." She was sweet, polite, and caring. A perfect mix to my hyper, sarcastic self. We were attached at the hip. We basically lived in each other's house. Once day, two months before I was moving, her and her parents were coming back from a vacation they took to Disney World in Florida. It was pouring rain, and they were on the highway. The car hydroplained and started sliding all over the place. Before it fishtailed into an SUV and flipped over a couple of times. They all died instantly." I didn't notice I was silently crying again until I stopped talking. Riker was still holding me tight and rubbing my back. He rubbed past a big bruise I had and it made me flinch a little. I have five years worth of bruising all over my torso, so I'm still a little sore. He seemed to notice this and started rubbing a different spot.

"Then what happened?" He whispered in my ear.

I took another deep breath. "The funeral was next week and I refused to cry in front of anyone. I knew that Amanda wouldn't want me to cry over her. Almost every night I cried myself to sleep. My parents never heard me because I didn't want them too. The last thing I wanted was sympathy. That's when I started building all these walls around me. At school everyone would give me a sad smile or a hug. Even the bullies that tortured me everyday would stop me in the hallway and give their condolences. When we moved, the new school was terrible. Every single one of those kids was mean and hateful. They would literally slam me into the wall every chance they got. I never told anyone, not even my parents. I didn't want them to worry for me. They would just go tell the principal and he would yell at the students doing it. Making the students label me as a "Tattletale." And only beat me up worse."

I noticed how Riker tensed up during that part of my story. I pulled away for a moment to look at him. His eyebrows were knitted together and there was a slight frown on his lips. His eyes turned a darker color, filled with anger. I rubbed out the worry lines on his forehead and smoothed out his frown to form a smile. I leaned my forehead against his and finished the rest of my story. "The point is, I haven't really cried in five years. After her funeral I thought nothing could hurt worse than that, not even the bullying that I would come to face for the next years, or any bruises or cuts I got from it. So it wasn't worth crying over." I finished my story and felt great for clearing that up. I looked at Riker; he seemed lost in thought for a moment.

"And since you never had any other friends, you didn't have anyone to tell this too. You just kept it bottled up all these years?" He asked.

I nodded and said, "Why would I tell my feelings and troubles to someone who doesn't even care?" He nodded and I hugged him again saying," I'm really grateful that I met you and your family. You knocked down all these walls I've been building up. When I say you're my best friend, I mean it." I released from the hug. He immediately took my face in his hands and rubbed our noses together. I started giggling, which turned onto full out laughter. We decided to go inside before we fell off the roof from laughing so hard. After we climbed back in we just laid on the bed in comfortable silence.

Riker sat up "We just got our pool set up and we are gonna go swimming and having a BBQ later on. Do you guys want to come?"

**Riker's POV**

After we climbed back in and sat on the bed for a little while, I remembered that my parents wanted me to ask her if her and April and Martin wanted to come over for our BBQ and swimming. She looked a little hesitant and a frown was starting to form on her features. I grabbed her hand and said, "Whats wrong?"

She looked over at me and said," I'd have to wear a bathing suit. I still have bruises and scars on my back. Everyone would see it."

I looked over at her."Oh. Well, how bad are they?"

She looked at me. "Pretty bad."

I pulled her into a slight hug and said, "Show me."

She nodded and got up to go into her closet. She came back out with a bikini top in her hands, and then went to the bathroom to change. She came back out and I gasped. There were scars all over her stomach, and some yellowish bruises still sitting on her skin. She turned around and her back had giant patches of purple, green and blue bruises on it. One right under her shoulder blades in particular, looked fresh.

I stood up and walked over to her, turning her around to face me, "Iris, some bruises on your back look new, was it Mckenzie and the others?" She nodded and I started tugging at her hand, leading her to the door.

"No stop! Riker my parents are gonna see it!" She whisper screamed as I pulled her down the stairs.

"You can't keep this a secret, this is really bad!" We stopped underneath the archway, leading into the kitchen where her parents stood making some brownies or something. I saw April look up and her eyes widened. She ran over and looked at her daughter closely.

"Honey, where did all these bruises come from?"

Martin then came over and asked, "Baby, who did this to you?"

Iris looked over to me and I nodded, motioning for her to tell them. She nodded back and said, "From school. Some on my back are new. All the others are, from all the other schools."

April looked on the verge of tears, but bravely held them back, just like her daughter. Martin took Iris into his arms and said, "You mean to tell me, and you've been bullied all these years, and never bothered to tell us about it?" It didn't come out as harsh, just a soft-spoken question.

Iris nodded and buried her head into his shirt, "You would have told the principal on them. It would make it worse.

April looked confused. "Why, honey?"

Iris turned her head away from her father and looked at her mom, "They would've beaten me up harder." This time tears started to prick at my eyes too. April noticed and pulled me into a small hug.

After she pulled back and wiped some stray tears that fell onto my cheeks she said, "Riker honey, go into our bathroom and get the blue jar of cream that's under the sink." I nodded and went over to their bedroom door, opening it and walking through the room and into the bathroom. I turned the lights on and opened up the cabinet. After retrieving the jar, I flipped the lights off. I went back into the kitchen to see Iris sitting up on the counter, with her back turned towards me. I gave the jar to April.

She put some on her fingers and said, " This is going to make them go away, but it's going to sting like crap."

I chuckled at her language. Blunt and to the point, no sugar coating, just like Iris. I walked around to the front of her and grabbed her hand. "Just squeeze my hand if it starts hurting too much." She nodded.

When April started rubbing the cream onto her back, I thought I was going to lose my hand. But Iris never screamed, she sat there without so much as a peep. After she was done and let go of my hand, I started rubbing it frantically, trying to get feeling back into it.

Martin chuckled and patted me on the back, saying, "Yep, she's a strong one. King Kong ain't got nothin' on her." Everyone burst out laughing, it was true. I grabbed Iris around the waist and helped her off the counter. She quickly pulled me into a hug.

April then came over and said, "We're going over to Stormie and Mark's in a minute so get changed. You can still go swimming, just wear a tank top or something and some shorts over your bikini in the pool."

Iris nodded and ran upstairs to change while I helped April put the icing on the brownies. I licked the spoon when she was done.

Martin sat down on the stool in front of us. "Thank you, I have a feeling she'd never tell us if it weren't for you."

I nodded. "It happens at our school too. I wanted to tell someone but she wouldn't let me. Its amazing that she can just brush it off like that."

"What happened today?"

I went on to tell her and Martin of what Mckenzie said, and what Iris said back. "I don't know where she gets her strength from. But I am proud of her for sticking up for herself without the need of violence."

April nodded and said, "If there is anything you don't call Iris, it's untalented."

She walked down stairs. "Ready?" She asked everyone. We all nodded and headed out the door.

I grabbed her hand and starting swinging it back and forth while we walked down the sidewalk.

"So, what happened after I left school?" She asked.

I started laughing recalling the memory, "After the doors closed nearly everyone that was watching pounced on Mckenzie, Brittany, and Ashley. Yelling at them for doing that to you and stuff."

She chuckled and said,"I wished I could've seen their faces. What did they look like?"

I shrugged "I have no idea. I was so mad I couldn't see straight. I ran out of the school and went looking for you right after you left. But I'm pretty sure I heard a smack when I walked out the door."

Iris looked disappointed. "Man, I miss all the fun..."

I laughed and slung my arm around her shoulders as we walked up my driveway and into the back yard. This is going to be awesome!

**Yes this chapter is a bit short too, but I promised Friday and I'm going on vacation but I'll be back soon. Thanks guys! **

**Lots of love!**

**-Lora & Lizzie**


	5. Summer Fun in the Sun!

**Littleton Colorado, May 29****th**** 2005**

**Friday, 4:00 p.m.**

**Iris's P.O.V**

We walked into the backyard and everyone seemed to be having a good time. My dad quickly went over to Mark and started helping him with the grilling, while mom and Stormie hugged and went inside to chat or something. Rydel and the others saw me and came running up out of the pool and over to me.

"Iris! What happened when we left school? Did they hurt you?" There were sounds of agreement from everyone as they all wanted to know what happened.

I explained everything that happened. Riker picked up where I left off at the part where I stormed out and everyone laughed at the thought of Mckenzie and her friends getting what they deserved.

After we were done, the boys decided to go swimming, while Rydel and I went up to her room for a little. Her room was all sparkly and pink with Hello Kitty everywhere you looked. I kind of liked it to be honest. We sat in the middle of the floor with a bunch of tutu fabric and a sewing machine. Rydel and I loved making tutus and we'd always make one for each other every chance we got. My closet was starting to overflow with them! Rydel started layering blue and green fabric for me while I did pink and green for her.

"I started learning how to play piano again." She started off. Ever since that one night we were jamming in the basement, we all started playing together on Saturday nights. We were actually really good.

"That's great Rydel! You know I kind of had this idea when we first started playing..." I trailed off, wondering if it was a stupid idea.

"What?" She asked.

"Well, its probably stupid, but I was thinking we could form a band..."

She squealed, making me spill all the glitter I was putting on her tutu. "That's a great idea! -" She noticed all the glitter covering her tutu and apologized. I started dying laughing as I was putting the glitter back in the jar. Luckily, none got on the carpet, or that would be a pain in the butt to get out.

"You really think so?" I asked after a while.

"Absolutely! Think about it, Riker plays drums, you play bass and are teaching him to play bass, Rocky plays lead guitar, Ross plays rhythm guitar, I play keyboard, you can sing like nobody's business..."

She didn't get to finish because Stormie came into the room saying "Foods ready! Oh! What lovely tutus girls! How many have you made each other?"

Rydel and I looked at each other for a moment before saying at the same time, "Thousands!" We all started laughing and Stormie got an idea.

"Well after we eat and you go swimming, why don't we have a little fashion show like we used to?"

Rydel started jumping up and down screaming, "That's a great idea!"

I silently nodded and said, "Sure it sounds fun!"

On the way downstairs, Rydel and I started making plans. We decided that after dinner but before swimming we would sneak over to my house and get my tutus, some shirts, shoes, all my hair stuff, and some make up, then sneak back to their house and stash it upstairs. Stormie and mom would do our hair and make up and my dad and Mark would set up a small runway off the patio. We decided to let Ryland do the music, which would be provided by a CD that I would bring. It was going to be awesome!

Rydel and I quickly ate our hotdogs and potato salad, threw our trash away, and basically flew down the sidewalk to my house. We ran upstairs and started raiding my closet. I got all my tutus out along with a suitcase to put them in, while Rydel picked out some tank tops and other shirts to go with them. I was quickly getting my make up and hair stuff ready while Rydel was looking through my shoes.

"Hey, Rissy, what's this shoe box on the top of your closet have in it?" She said while taking it down.

She was only a few months younger than me but she was as tall as me, and I was like 5'6! My eyes widened as I remembered what was in it. I quickly ran over to her and put my hands on the lid.

"Wait until you see these! Your gonna flip!" Her eyes widened and she started gesturing for me to open it. I ripped off the lid and tore through the tissue paper.

Rydel screamed and picked up a black converse boot that would go all the way to my knee with a large wedge heel. "Geez Louise Rissy... What size shoe size are you?" She said.

"6 and a half."

She sighed and said, "Shoot! I'm a five..." I laughed and she looked like a light bulb went off in her head. "You are definitely wearing this! I have the perfect outfit in mind!"

I nodded and walked over to look through my CD's for something to play while walking down the _runway_. I found one of my favorite mix tapes and put it in its case. "Hey Del, do you have a CD player that we can hook up?"

She nodded and said "Yeah it's in my closet at home."

I nodded and put all my hair and make up stuff in a traveler bag. Rydel came out of my closet and stuffed a few more things in my suitcase. That's when I noticed she put a very familiar little black dress in there. I gasped and Rydel looked at me as I took the dress out of the case. "Rydel... no, I haven't worn this in ages! What if it doesn't fit right? Not to mention it comes _way_ above my knees!"

Rydel smirked and ripped the dress back out of my hand. "It'll still fit, and that's where the tutu comes in! Hey, did you pack your different colored hair extentions and stuff? And what about jewelry?"

I nodded and said, "I don't have a lot of jewelry, yours is way nicer than mine anyway." She nodded and we headed downstairs and out the door. I was getting more nervous about that dress. We decided to walk in through the front door than go around back, so as to not arouse suspicion. We walked up to her room and laid the stuff on the bed. We walked out back and immediately noticed mom and Stormie untangling a bunch of different multi colored lights and checking to see if they worked. Dad and Mark had three strings out. Their deck was large and square with the doors leading into the dining room in the middle and a patio set on the side. The patio set was pushed into the grass and dad and Mark were up on chairs tying clotheslines out from the doors with one going across it. After they put the sheets up it would work like, Rydel and I walk out of the patio doors then round a corner of the sheet and meet in the middle and walk down the runway. Riker and the boys looked seriously confused as to what was going on, but I just shrugged at him and he nodded.

Rydel and I went back upstairs to change into our bathing suits. We carefully tied our hair up so it wouldn't get wet. Rydel was wearing a pink one piece with polka dots all over it, while I was wearing a blue two-piece with my tank top and some swimsuit short shorts. We went back out side and carefully got into the pool, trying our best not to get our hair wet. Rocky and Ross were already splashing around in the pool, but Riker was nowhere to be seen. I finally spotted him coming out of the house with some swimming trunks and a t-shirt on. He walked over to the chair right where my stuff was and set his stuff down there too. He then kicked off his sandals and got ready to take his shirt off. Everything else happened in slow motion for me. He reached to the waist of his shirt and pulled it up over his chest and head almost teasingly. I could already see what looked like to be the start of a six-pack and biceps on his arms and torso.

I turned my face back around to see Rydel completely smirking at me. We swam to the other side of the pool so everyone else couldn't hear and said, "Well, I thought you would never turn back around." She started laughing and I smacked her arm.

"Oh shush your face, it's just that not all fourteen year old boys look like that okay!" My face was probably beet red by now and I couldn't help but giggle at how silly I sounded.

"Yeah well, he just started kind of working out 2 months ago..." She trailed off, as her eyes got wide. Mine did too and before I could cover her mouth with my hand she started whisper screaming. "Because of you! He's working out for you! Oh My God he likes you!"

That's when I covered my hand over her mouth and said, "He does not! Maybe he just wants to be healthy! He does eat a lot of junk food..."

Rydel was giving me the "completely not buying it" looks, and I just shrugged. Riker got out of the pool and started toweling off right in front of us. Making sure to stretch his muscles as much as possible. He went to wipe off his face and hair and I could just feel him smirking underneath the towel. He lay down on the ground right in front of us and I could see Rydel out of the corner of my eyes trying her best not to laugh.

He looked over at us and said, "Whatcha girls talking about?"

I looked him square in the eye and said, "Nothing." Before splashing him with water and swimming as fast as I could to get out of the pool. He was starting to chase me so I took off running into the front yard where I dived behind a bush. He came running up after me but must not have seen me dive behind the bush, or so I thought. Because, he got down on the ground and started doing push-ups. I gasped a little and quickly covered my mouth. I saw him slightly smile and get up to start stretching. I quickly looked around and saw a water hose hooked up behind me with a sprayer. I quietly turned on the water and silently untangled enough hose to reach him with. He started stretching again with his hands up in the air when I nailed him with ice-cold water.

He screeched like a girl and started screaming, "Cold! Cold! Cold! I'm gonna kill you Iris!"

I laughed and dived out of the bush and started running as far away from the water hose was possible. I was halfway down the sidewalk to my house when I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist. I screamed in shock and twisted my body to see Riker laughing his head off. He threw me over his shoulder and started walking back to his house, with me kicking and screaming, "Let me down! I should've killed you when I had the chance!"

He started laughing at the last one and was getting ready to throw me in the pool when Rocky silently crept up right behind him. I grabbed onto his shoulders tightly. So when Riker got ready to jump in the pool I slid out of his grasp while he landed in the pool. I landed on my feet and turned back to see everyone laughing their heads off! Stormie got it all on video too! Rydel and Ross were doubled over while Rocky and I were rolling around on the ground. We got up and I hugged Rocky screaming, "I freaking love this kid!"

Riker got out of the pool looking absolutely furious. "Really?!" He screamed.

I laughed and ran over to him, tackling him onto the ground in a giant bear hug. "Oh, come on, that was awesome and you know it!"

He looked at me with a smile creeping up his face. That's when I knew something bad was going to happen. He quickly straddled my waist and started tickling me until I couldn't breath. I flicked my legs to the side making him fall over and I started tickling him, "Iris... Sto-...Stop! I can't... take... it!"

**Riker's P.O.V**

I jumped into the pool without Iris on my back. When I got back up I saw Rocky and her rolling around on the ground and everyone else laughing their butts off. I tried not to laugh; it was a really good prank. I decided to put my acting skills to the test and got out of the pool looking furious.

"Really?!" I shout.

Iris laughed and ran over to me tackling me into a hug that made us both fall onto the ground. She was on top of me and was inches away from my face. "Oh come on! That was awesome and you know it!" I felt a smile creep onto my face, and flipped us over, with me straddling her waist and started tickling her. Her melodious laugh filled the air and her cheeks were growing flushed. Then, just as she did with her dad, flicked her legs over and was now straddling my waist. She was tickling me senseless and I could barely get a word out, "Iris...Sto- ...Stop! I can't... take... it!"

She giggled and kissed my nose and got off of me. I smiled my "Million Dollar" smile and kissed her nose back. I looked over and saw mom filming the whole thing. That was going to haunt me later on. Rydel came running up and basically ripped Iris off my lap and drug her into the house. On the way inside she brought Ryland in with her too. I really want to know what's going on now...

**Iris's P.O.V  
**  
After Rydel ripped me off Riker's lap, we ran inside. I quickly grabbed Ryland and told him to come inside with us. We ran up the stairs to Rydel's room where my mom was getting my crimper, and flattening iron set up to start heating up. I went inside her closet and got out the sparkly, pink, Hello Kitty CD player. I went to my purse and got out my CD too.

I handed them to Ryland and said," Can you plug this up outside right next to those big white sheets and put this CD in it?"

Ryland nodded and asked, "Why?"

I just shooed him out and said, "You'll see! When I give you the signal press play!"

I heard a faint, "Well alright." and went back into the room. Rydel pulled me over and shoved a red and black tutu in my face with a plain white t-shirt, a black tie, my red Converse high tops, and a black fedora with a red and black stripped band around it. I went into the bathroom and changed. When I came back out Rydel was dressed in a red and white sparkly tutu, with a plain black shirt, a red tie, some black Converse high tops, and a black and white striped headband. Stormie came up by then and grabbed my hand to start on my make-up, while mom did Rydel's hair. Stormie put all the foundation and blush on me, with silver eyeliner, and dark eye shadow, with super red lipstick and mascara. I looked over to Rydel; mom had crimped her hair and put black crimped extensions in it. She nodded for me to come over and Rydel and I switched seats. Mom half crimped and half straightened my hair and put red extensions in it. I looked over at Rydel and Stormie had put white eyeliner on her with red sparkly eye shadow, mascara and the same red lips as mine. Stormie told us we were done and all four of us rushed downstairs, and out the door.

Mark was waiting for us with a video camera and I nodded over to Ryland and he pressed play. The song "Can't Get You Outta My Head" by Kylie Minogue came on. I waited about ten seconds before I pushed Rydel to go. I heard everyone whooping and clapping. I peeked out onto the runway and saw Rydel totally working it. She walked back over to me after a minute and shoved me out on stage. I saw everyone start clapping and laughing, so I decided I'd work it. Moving to the beat of the song, I did a halt twirl and started dancing. My parents always said I was a good dancer. Everyone stood up and started clapping and I walked off the runway. I saw Rydel run out the kitchen doors in a blue and pink tutu with a pink sparkly top on and some blue converse. Mom replaced her black hair extension for a blue one and her red eye shadow was now pink. I ran inside and changed outfits in ten seconds flat. I was wearing a blue and green tutu with a green shirt, my blue converse, and a pair of blue suspenders. Mom quickly straightened the rest of my hair and replaced the red extension for blue. Stormie quickly wiped off all my eye shadow and replaced it with light sparkly blue and pink lip-gloss. I ran down the steps just in time to see Rydel walking off. I waited a second so the song could finish and "Billie Jean" by Micheal Jackson came on.

I walked out onto the runway in true MJ fashion. I started doing the dance while showing off my outfit. After about three minutes, I turned around to walk off, and moon walked my way offstage. I definitely heard some catcalls for that one. I returned to see Rydel cheering wearing a black and purple tutu, A purple shirt, some black suspenders, and a fedora with her hair completely straightened with the black and purple extensions in it, and some black ballerina shoes. I knew what my outfit was going to be and started getting nervous. I ran upstairs, grabbed my clothes, and ran into the bathroom. The dress still fit but it was just barely covering my butt. It was a spaghetti strap and I must say it did wonders to my figure.

I put on the black and purple sparkly tutu, and zipped up my knee high Converse shoes with the white wedge and walked out. Mom immediately crimped all my hair and put black and purple extensions in, while Stormie put dark purple eye shadow and sparkly purple lipstick on me. I quickly looked at myself and to put it one word. Hot! I zoomed downstairs to see Rydel waiting for me. She squealed and "Billie Jean" turned into "Genie in a Bottle" by Christina Aguilera. I gulped. This song was hot. I took a deep breath and walked out during the chorus. I started doing the dance and the only thing I noticed was Riker's eyes pop and jaw drop. He immediately stood up and started fist pumping and catcalling. I blushed immensely and ran back to grab Rydel who was still in her outfit. We started dancing and twirling as the song went on. I didn't notice till now how the lights were in sync with the music. How Ryland did that I will never know. We posed as the song ended and everyone ran up to hug us. Riker picked me up, spun me around, and kissed my cheek. But he was dangerously close to my lips when he did. He teased me at the pool, so I'm going to do it back! I rubbed our noses together and kissed the skin between his nose and lip.

**Riker's P.O.V**

Oh My God. She looked beautiful in all the other outfits but this was just, different. And her dancing? Hot. I felt a weird tingling in my chest and figured it was just from the soda and music. They stopped and we all ran up and hugged them. I picked her up, spun her around, and kissed her cheek, dangerously close to her deep purple lips. I think she noticed the teasing and rubbed our noses together before kissing the skin underneath it. It suddenly got really hot out.

She smiled shyly and said, "Well I'm gonna go change out of this breath restricting dress. Do you wanna go to my house for a little and watch a movie?"

I nodded. Not trusting my voice. She smiled and went back upstairs. I sat down and waited for her to come back down.

After five or so minutes she came back and said, "Hey I'm gonna change into my pajamas when we get there. Do you wanna change into yours right now?"

I nodded and ran upstairs to my room. But I stopped and looked into Rydel's room where mom and April were packing up.

"Do you think they like each other? They're acting quite couple-ish for best friends."

My mom looked at April with a thoughtful face and said, "I'm not sure. He's like that anyway. Cuddly you know? Maybe they're just that comfortable with each other." I decided to stop ease dropping and ran into my room to change.

I changed into my blue basketball shorts and white t-shirt. I threw on a pair of sandals and slowly made my way downstairs. I was thinking about what April and Mom were saying. I do not like Iris like that! ...Right? Ugh! I'm just going to stop over thinking it before I lose my mind. I walked out back and Iris stood up and we started walking up the sidewalk to her house.

I grabbed her hand and she intertwined our fingers while swinging our arms while saying, "Did you like it?"

I almost choked on my spit, "What?! Liked what?"

She gave me a confused look and said, "...The fashion show. Are you alright?"

I looked over at her and smiled. The streetlights lit up her face and she looked beautiful. "Yeah. Just kinda tired is all."

She nodded and let go of my hand to open her door. We went in and I sat on the couch while she went upstairs. "Hey Riker, just put a movie in. I don't care which one!"

I walked over and started going through her movies. I found "When A Stranger Calls." The one with Camilla Belle and stuck it in. After about five minutes she came back down in blue and red Superman pajamas and she brought a big blanket. Her eyes widened as she saw what movie I put in. I was expecting her to yell at me for putting such a scary movie in. But, with Iris? Always expect the unexpected.

She smiled and said, "Sweet! I wanted to watch that one too!" She went over and pressed play on their T.V. and sat next to me on the couch with the blanket threw over us. About halfway into the movie she lay down so her head was on my lap. I looked down and smiled, I could tell she was getting really tired. I started playing with her hair as I watched the movie. I looked over at the clock on the table and it said 11:30. The movie was ending and I was really tired too. The door opened and April and Martin came in.

"Awe! Wait! Let me get the camera!" She ran into the kitchen and pulled out a camera from their junk drawer. Martin took his shoes off and went upstairs to put Iris's suitcase in her room.

April came back over and said, "Put your head to the side and act like your sleeping!" I obeyed and she snapped a couple of pictures before Martin came back down. I carefully lifted her up bridal style and walked up the stairs with Martin behind me. I walked into her room and noticed her pull out bed set up right underneath her day bed. I placed her onto hers and pulled the covers up over her.

Martin said, "It's really late and I don't want you walking back. Just spend the night."

I nodded and thanked him. He went over and kissed her on the forehead before patting me on the back and leaving. April then came in and kissed her on the forehead. She walked over and kissed me on the cheek and hugged me too saying, "Thank you so much. She's been a brand new person ever since you came along. It's like our little light lit back up."

I hugged her back and said, "I heard you and mom talk about us. I do love her, in a lot of different ways. I just need to figure out what those ways are."

She nodded and pulled back with slight tears in her eyes. She turned the light off when she left. I looked over to Iris who was snuggled in the blankets. The glow from her clock on her face. I bent down and swiped the hair off her forehead before planting a soft kiss of my own on it. I got down onto my own bed and pulled the covers over me.

"Goodnight Iris. I love you." I heard a grunt like snore and laughed silently. I quickly fell asleep in a dreamless sleep.

**So there ya have it! Chapter five! Sorry it's been so long, I've been super duper busy lately. Oh, did anyone else see the promo for 'Girlfriends & Girl Friends'? Did anyone else just die from feels like me? I don't know if the promo is aired on DC or not because Ferris Wheels & Funky Breath doesn't air till tomorrow. I just checked tumblr and everyone was freaking out so I looked it up and watched online and … yeah I pretty much freaked! Anyways, I'll update when possible! Thanks guys!:)**

**Lots of love!**

**-Lora & Lizzie**


	6. This I Promise You

**Littleton Colorado, May 30****th**** 2005**

**Saturday, 3:00 a.m.**

**Iris's P.O.V**

I woke up with a jolt at around three in the morning. Tears where streaming down my face from the nightmare I had. I was breathing heavily. I didn't realize Riker spent the night until I felt the bed dip a little and a pair of arms wrap around me.

"Sshh" He whispered as he stroked my hair.

"I'm fine. Just a really bad nightmare." I said wiping away my tears.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" He asked gently.

I nodded. "It was about Amanda, it was the night I found out she died. Everyone and everything around me kept disappearing. I was all alone. Just like how I was alone at school and everywhere else. It feels like I've always been alone." I finished with a shaky sigh.

He kissed my cheek and said, "Your not alone anymore. I'll never leave you alone."

I put my arms around his waist and pulled him closer so I could rest my head on his shoulder. I scooted over on the bed so he could fit onto it and we lay down. My back was up against his chest and his arm was around my waist and holding my hand. I flipped around so I could see his face and kissed his nose. "Thank you." I whispered.

He wiped the hair off my face. "For what?"

I smiled and said, "For always being there."

He smiled back and kissed my forehead before wrapping both his arms around me and pulled me close. "Goodnight Iris." He said as he closed his eyes.

"Night Riker." When his breathing evened out and he looked asleep I whispered, "I love you too..."

**April's POV**

I walked into Iris's room at eight thirty to see what they both wanted for breakfast. But when I opened the door what I saw was completely heart melting. Riker had one arm around her waist while the other one was tangled in her hair. Her head was snuggled into his neck and they were holding hands. I silently ran back to our room and woke up Martin while I got the video camera.

"What's going on?" He mumbled voice deep from sleep.

"Come with me. This is the cutest thing ever!" I squealed before basically pulling him out of bed. He fumbled up the stairs and I turned on the video camera doing a quick introduction, "This is the cutest thing ever! " I made Martin hold the camera and motioned for him to be quiet as I opened the door.

Martin made an "awe!" sound as we walked to the side of the bed. Riker woke up and started rubbing his eyes.

"What's going on?" He mumbled.

I bent down and kissed his forehead saying, "Nothing. Just go back to sleep." He yawned and snuggled back into the blankets re-joining Iris' hand with his. I pulled the blankets up to their chest and smiled. We walked out of the room and stopped the video.

Martin looked at me and said, "He definitely loves her."

I nodded and said, "He told me he did last night. Just in a bunch of different ways all at once. He said he needed to figure out what ways they were."

He looked thoughtful for a moment and said, "He's a good kid, smart and mature. He's good for her." I nodded and went into the kitchen to start making breakfast. I figured they'd be up in about half an hour anyway.

**Riker's POV**

I never really fell back asleep after they came in. I watched Iris fast asleep for a good thirty minutes before she started moving. Her eyes fluttered open and I quickly closed my eyes to look like I was sleeping and not staring at her.

"Faker." She yawned while I did a fake snore. She started laughing and pushed me off the bed.

"Ow! What was that for?" I said rubbing my head.

"I don't know. Just felt like it I guess. What do you wanna do today?" She asked.

"I don't know. Do you just wanna go swimming and hang around the house?"

She nodded and slipped out of her bed walking into her bathroom. While she was in there I re-made the little trundle bed and pushed it back in. She was still in the bathroom so I did what any good friend would do while the other wasn't looking. I snooped through her stuff, it was nothing interesting. But I found a green scrapbook with white polka dots on it. There was a picture of what looked like a young Iris and a girl with red curly hair and green eyes. Underneath it said," Iris and Amanda." I opened it up and started looking through it. There were a lot of funny looking pictures in it. Iris came out of the bathroom and saw what I was looking at. She was wearing her bathing suit from last night with the shorts and tank top over it. She smiled and put her hair up in a ponytail before coming over to sit next to me and look through it. She was pointing at random pictures and telling me what they were when we got to the last page. I looked over it and saw a picture of Iris and Amanda on a swing set. Amanda was pushing her on the swing while Iris was laughing.

She smiled and said, "That's the last picture we took together." She then took out Amanda's funeral program and flipped through it. "She would have liked you." She said before getting back up and sitting it back on her desk.

We walked downstairs and there were two plates with eggs, bacon, and toast on it. We started eating and after we were done walked back to my house.

**Iris' POV**

After eating we ran back to his house. While he was in his room getting changed, I went into Rydel's room. She was sitting on her bed listening to some music on her portable CD player. She saw me come in and motioned for me to sit down. She took out her headphones and sighed.

"What's wrong Delly?"

She looked at me and shrugged. "Nothing. We're all just dying of sexual tension that seems to be coming from you and Riker."

I choked on my own spit and flung myself back on the bed, because I was laughing so hard. After Rydel and I calmed down enough to breathe again I sat up and said, "Yeah right. The day he likes me is the day the world ends."

She gave me an 'are you kidding me?' look and said, "Well you obviously didn't see him staring at you all last night. And when you came out in your black dress, I thought he was going to have a heart attack from his heart stopping too long. Nice dance moves by the way. That definitely didn't help."

I chuckled and did a fake bow, "Well thank you! I've been told I could dance before. And how do you know he likes me? It's clearly just speculation. I'm nothing special."

She looked surprised and said, "Are you kidding me? Your gorgeous Rissy! You can sing, dance, skateboard, play just about every instrument there is, wrestle, your hilarious, and our absolute best friend! Tell me, how could anybody not like that?"

I just nodded and said, "I am really awesome, aren't I?"

She jumped up from her bed and said, "There's the Rissy we know and love!"

I just laughed. "Okay! Go get your suit on, I wanna throw you in the pool!" She ran into her bathroom and in two seconds flat was out with an extra towel she threw to me before running downstairs.

We ran at full speed outside, barely dropping our towels on a chair before cannon balling into the water. Rocky, Ross and Riker were outside already and gave us fake scores. We all decided to have Stormie come out and she could judge us while we did tricks into the pool. Ross ran inside and came back a few seconds later with her in tow. She had the video camera out and sat on the chair while we did tricks. Ross went first and did a little flip, then Rydel did a cannon ball, they each got 7's. Rocky went next and did a weird backwards flip into the pool, which got him a 9. Riker went and did a front wards flip with a twist and got him a 10. I was next so I started running and did a backhand spring into the pool with a twist before I hit the water. I swam around under water for a minute before coming back up. Everyone was clapping and Stormie gave me a 10 and a half.

"What? But it only goes to ten!" Riker yelled.

"That's only if you do a trick that's worth a ten!" I shouted back.

We swam for two more hours then got out and toweled off. The others went inside to watch a movie while Riker and I decided to go to the park. I ran home and changed into some khaki shorts that went to my knees, a plain white t-shirt that had a pink and purple sparkly pattern on it, and my black converse. The park was only five minutes from our houses so I grabbed my board and met Riker in the middle of the sidewalk. We went to the park and walked around until we found the play area. I saw an open swing and immediately ran to it. Riker caught up to me just as I was sitting down and started laughing.

"What? I don't care how old I get, when I see an open swing I run to it." I said. He started laughing again and went behind me to push me.

After a couple minutes he said, "Your just really cute when you get excited."

I looked back at him and started laughing. When it was his turn he came around in front of me and grabbed my legs to stop. Our faces were inches apart and I noticed him look down at my lips for a second then back up into my eyes. When he stares at me he doesn't stare at me, he stares through me. His usually brown eyes flickered with specks of gold and green and I could've gotten lost in them. I finally stood up and offered him the swing. He blushed and sat down. He grabbed onto the chains with his hands and I grabbed onto his hips to push him. After I got him up high enough, I ran away, purposely in front of him so he could see me.

"Hey wait!" I heard him yell. I quickly started running until I heard soft music playing. I walked to the other side of the playground and saw a little platform with string lights around the bottom and couples were slow dancing to whatever song was playing. I heard Riker run up behind me and put his hand on the small of my back. He looked over and saw what I was staring at.

"Oh yeah! One day out of the year we have this dance thing for couples at the park."

I nodded and smiled when "This I Promise You" By NSYNC came on, it's one of my favorites. I felt Riker move his hand from my back to hold onto mine and pulled me out onto the dance floor. Many couples smiled sweetly at us and quietly 'awed'. I blushed and looked down onto the ground. Have my shoes always been this interesting?

**Riker's POV**

I saw how her eyes lit up when this song came on. The soft string lights from the stage lit up her face and reflected into her eyes. I hesitated for a moment then grabbed her hand and led her out onto the dance floor. I smiled when the other older couples started awing. She blushed and looked down. I had one arm around her back and my other hand was clasped gently in hers. I looked up for a moment and saw an elderly couple look and smile at us. The old man winked at me and suddenly my cheeks turned red as well. She finally looked up into my eyes and that's the absolute moment I knew. I loved her. I loved her with all my heart and soul and nothing was ever going to change that. It's only been two months since I've known her and we've become such good friends. What if she didn't like me back like that? I looked to the side for a minute and I could've sworn I saw a flash of long blonde hair and part of a tutu. I just brushed it off and continued dancing.

**Rydel's POV**

Where are they? They said they'd only be gone for half an hour and it's been two already! The sun was starting to set so Rocky and I slipped out of the house to go find them. We knew they would be at the park and walked around for a good ten minutes until I abruptly stopped with a silent gasp. Rocky ran into the back of me and stumbled back a few steps.

"Hey! What gives?" He said.

I covered his mouth with my hand and we dived underneath a play set and ducked down. "Sshh! Now, when I take my hand off of your mouth, I want you to quietly look through the peep holes onto the couples dance floor and tell me what you see."

He nodded and I took my hand off of his mouth. He silently crawled over and peeped through the little holes. "Well, I see one elderly couple dancing, some twenty year old couple kissing, Riker and Iris slow dancing..." His eyes got wide and slumped down onto the ground. I raised my eyebrows at him and suddenly he whispered, "Oh my god. They were slow dancing! They...they,"

I rolled my eyes at him and whisper-screamed, "They love each other doof!" I crawled over to see what was happening. The way they were looking at each other was breathtaking! I looked over at Rocky and said, "Run home and get the video camera! I'm going to climb up top to get a better view! Try not to be seen!"

He nodded and took off. I very carefully climbed out and made my way around to the ladder. I quickly climbed up and army crawled to the little telescope look out thing. I peeped through and looked at Riker. There was a small smile playing on the corner of his lips and his eyes seemed lit up yet dim at the same time. To put into words how he looked I would say: love dazed. I saw Rocky climb up the ladder with the video camera and motioned for him to hurry. He army crawled over and handed me the camera. I flipped it on and pressed, "record".

I then cleared my throat and said, "What your about to see is so sweet you might need to go to the dentist afterwards." I then sat onto my knees and got a clear shot of them slow dancing. They were looking at each other with such intensity I could feel it from where Rocky and I were sitting. I stopped recording and let out a sigh.

"He looked like he could jump over rainbows and quite frankly, it made me wanna barf up rainbows." Rocky deadpanned.

I looked over at him and said, "I'm now making it my mission to get them together."

"How are ya gonna do that?" Rocky asked with a confused expression on his face.

"I don't know. But it's so completely obvious that they love each other." I said.

"Then how come they don't just tell each other?"

I smiled and said, "One of three reasons my dear Rocky. 1: They are just oblivious to the other's feelings. 2: They're both too stubborn to actually admit that they like each other. Or 3: They know they love each other but just don't want to risk their wonderful friendship."

Rocky smirked and said, "Well if it's one of those three then I wish you luck."

I smirked back and said, "Yeah, well I just chose you to help so C'mon!" I said grabbing his hand and walking over to the little stage. We were just far away enough so that they won't see us. I walked up to the DJ. "Excuse me sir, but would you mind helping a hopelessly oblivious yet totally in love couple make their feelings known tonight?"

He looked contemplative for a minute then said, "Well, it is couples night. Which couple and what do you need me to do?"

I smiled and whispered into the man's ear.

**Iris' POV**

We were slow dancing when the music slowly faded a bit. Then a smooth, jazzy like voice filtered through the speakers saying, "Alright ladies and gentlemen, we're gonna do something different this year. If the spot light hits you, fellas, pull your ladies close and give her a nice kiss."

I stiffened immediately. I looked up at Riker and he seemed to be nervous too. I cleared my throat and said, "Uh, what are the chances of that spot light hitting us?" Just as the sentence left my mouth a blinding spotlight erupted onto both of our faces.

"I'd say a pretty good chance." Riker said.

We just stood there and stared at each other. Drowning in the awkwardness. Everyone started chanting, "KISS! KISS! KISS! KISS!"

The DJ's voice then filtered through the speaker saying, "Come on man! Don't be scared! Times a wasting go on!" I looked up and Riker's face resembled a tomato right now. What's the worst that could happen?

I looked up and quietly whispered, "Just do it."

His eyes snapped to mine and said "What?"

**Riker's POV**

Things where getting really embarrassing by this point. Everyone was chanting and the old man was motioning for me to do it. But what would Iris think? That's when I heard it. I heard Iris whisper, "Just do it."

My eyes snapped to hers. "What?"

She looked up at me with small, scared eyes and said, "Just do it. It's not going to change anything. Everyone will stop staring at us."

I nodded slowly. I licked my lips and put a hand on her cheek. I turned my head ever so slightly and slowly brought my face down to hers. Just when my lips were about to touch hers, I saw Rydel. My head snapped up and I looked straight at Rydel and Rocky. They were laughing and high-fiving right next to the DJ booth. I looked down at Iris who had a very confused and slightly disappointed look on her face. I got close to her ear and said, "Rydel and Rocky are over there. They put us up to it." She whipped her head onto that direction and glared at them both. I looked over and notice them both look back over at us. Rydel's eyes widened and a terrified look filled her face.

"They wanna see us kiss. Lets give them a show."

Iris head snapped back to mine and she barely got out a "What?" before I crashed my lips onto hers. I heard everyone around us whoop and cat call. I slightly cracked open one eye and looked over to see Rydel and Rocky with scared and shocked looks on their faces. I smirked into the kiss and put my hand onto her neck to deepen it. Iris seemed to know what I was thinking and put her hands on my chest, slowly rising up until they got to my shoulders and tugged on the hair on the back of my head. We started moving our mouths in sync and we weren't even out of breath. We just kept going until we felt small hands tug us apart. We opened our eyes and sent a secretive smirk to each other. Rydel looked furious and Rocky looked beyond grossed out.

"What do you think you guys are doing? We just wanted you to kiss, not completely suck each other's faces off!" Rydel screeched.

"That was nasty. But somehow entertaining..." Rocky mumbled.

Iris faked a shocked expression and said, "So, you mean to tell us that, you, put us up to kissing?"

Their eyes widened and in two seconds flat they bust out into a run at full speed. We took off after them and cornered them by the big yellow curly slide. I grabbed Rydel's arms and Iris grabbed onto Rocky's. They started screaming, "Let us go!" I looked over to Iris and she signaled to see what was up.

"Not until you tell us why you did it!" I said in a firm and scary voice.

**Iris' POV**

Rydel's eyes turned towards Rocky's and said, "Well, um, it was a...prank."

I looked down to Rocky and said, "Is that true Rocky? You wanted to prank Riker and I?" I said it in a soft voice, so he wouldn't get scared. He nodded and didn't say anything. I looked over to Riker and he looked furious.

He started yelling. "Why would you guys do something like that! Do you know how embarrassing that was?"

Rydel looked slightly scared but otherwise stayed strong. Rocky had tears pool into his eyes, obviously not use to Riker screaming at him like this. I got down onto one knee and pulled him into a hug. He clutched onto my shoulders and started shaking with silent tears.

I started whispering, "It's ok, Rocky. I forgive you. You don't have to cry."

He calmed down a bit and looked me into the eyes. "I really am sorry Iris. But...but... Rydel made me do it!"

I laughed a little. Typical Rocky. I looked over to Riker and noticed his slightly amused face too. I wiped at Rocky's wet cheeks and gave him a little peck on the cheek. "It's alright sweetheart. Do you wanna go get an ice cream?" He nodded and grabbed my hand. I looked over to Riker and said, "I'm gonna take him to get some ice cream. You finish with Rydel." I sent her a very real looking but totally fake angry expression. She shrunk back into Riker's chest.

Rocky and I walked over to the ice cream cart and I got a strawberry while he got a Rocky Road. I also got another strawberry and a chocolate for Rydel and Riker. I paid the man and led him over to a little bench. I licked some of my ice cream and looked over at Rocky. He had ice cream all over his face and looked absolutely cute. I knew they weren't telling the truth back there, so I decided I'd ask him.

"So, what's the real reason? That's pretty cruel to just be a prank." His eyes widened and he looked over at me with a shocked look on his face. "Hey, I wasn't born yesterday. And I've pulled my fair share of pranks. Nobody would ever go that personal."

He swallowed and said, "Promise you won't tell anybody?" I held out my pinkie and we pinkie promised. "Well, Rydel seems to think that you and Riker, umm. Like each other like that. And started playing matchmaker, she chose me too help. I was totally against it and refused but she threatened death on me..." He added quickly.

I laughed and said, "Rydel, she's way to caring for her own good."

Just then Riker and Rydel walked up and I handed them each their ice cream. They said thanks and we ate it on our way home. Before we walked in the door to the Lynch's house, Rydel turned to us and said, "Please don't tell! They'd absolutely kill me if they found out."

We both nodded and they walked in. Riker decided he wanted to walk me home so I wouldn't go home in the dark. We were walking strangely slow. I then remembered what Rocky said and started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Riker asked.

"Nothing, Rocky just told me why he and Rydel really did that to us."

He looked shocked and said, "Really? Well why? I can't believe he told you! He must really like you."

We were at my door by then and I smiled and said, "He's really a cute kid. Funny too. I feel like he's my brother. And so are Ross and Ryland. Rydel feels like my sister. Being an only child, it's nice to feel like that. And, about why they did that, I think it would be better if you didn't know." I gently kissed his cheek and said, Goodnight."

He looked dazed for a moment then smiled and said, "Goodnight Iris."

I walked into my house and floated upstairs to my bed. I quickly changed into my pajamas and settled into bed, finally allowing myself to think about what has been on my mind. That kiss. Not only was it my first but also it'll probably be my best. It felt like a lightning bolt mixed with electricity shoot up and down my veins. It was the best kiss ever. I thought about Rydel. That smart, little evil, genius. This is what she wanted all along. I'm going to have to thank her one-day. I closed my eyes and went into a deep sleep full of dreams about blonde hair, brown eyes, and NSYNC songs...

**Gosh it really has been long hasn't it? Well I got started editing a week ago but I got extremely sick and I'm still quite sick so I'm sorry! Anyone going to the Loud tour? Has anyone been to an R5 concert before? I've gone to three, and I'm going to one on the tour. I've been to the mag mile in Chicago in September, and I went to Madison and Milwaukee on the 3Mtour. I'm also going to the Chicago concert coming up! R5 concerts are the best, I'm telling you! I got an up close personal experience that was amazing! After Milwaukee, my mom parked backstage where their tour bus was and I played R5 songs through the speakers of the car. When the came out, Rydel, Rocky, and Riker came out dancing to the music. Then later Rydel came over to our window, eating baked cheetos, and started talking to us. Then Stormie came over with a girl named Morgan who apparently is Ross's costar in Teen Beach Movie, so we met her. Then Riker came over and I kind of went mute because I was in shock and I honestly like love him. He went over by Stormie and my mom said. "Oh Lora, it's too bad you didn't sit over here!" He heard that and walked over to my side and started talking to my friend and I through our window. It was pretty amazing. I cried after they left … so that was my amazing R5 experience. Do you guys have any?**

**I'm hoping Lizzie can go to her first R5 concert; she might make it to Ohio! Let's hope she can! So I will upload when I can. Thanks guys!**

**Oh and thanks for the 'you're an amazing author' comments but I'm just the beta reader. Lizzie (R5inmysoul) is the one who has written this entire amazing story so all credit goes to her! :)**

**Lots of love!**

**-Lora & Lizzie**


	7. Play It Safe

**Littleton Colorado, May 31st 2005**

**Sunday, 8:30 a.m.**

**Riker's POV**

I woke up the next morning with only one thing on my mind, the kiss. Wow. It felt like electricity shooting up my arms and in my chest making me all tingly inside. If anything, it only made my feelings for her stronger. I am in such a deep hole. She's my best friend! I shouldn't have these feelings for her! But maybe I'm overreacting. I've never kissed anyone before. Maybe that's the feeling that comes with every kiss.

"_Yeah, that's probably it!"_ The little voice in my head answered back. I smiled, got out of bed, and went downstairs. Mom and Rydel were making waffles. Today was going to be good.

"Hey baby, you're up early." Mom said when she saw me.

"Yeah, I smelled food." I said with a little chuckle.

Mom suddenly got that mischevious glint in her eyes. I swallowed. Something bad is going to happen. While she turned around to start cleaning out the batter bowl, she said,"So, Rydel told me something very interesting her and Rocky saw last night." She said it very non-chalant.

I decided that I would just play it cool. So I took a seat and put my butter and syrup on my waffles. "Oh? And what was that?" I said while sending a death glare to Rydel.

Mom turned back around and said, "Nothing. Just that you and Iris slow danced."

I inwardly sighed. I've never been more scared in my life. I smiled and said,"Well, she found saw that little dance thing we have for couples and her favorite song came on. So being the extremely dapper gentleman I am, I danced with her."

She seemed to buy it and said, "Well that was extremely sweet of you and I'm sure she appreciated it."

I finished up my waffles and drank my milk before standing up and putting my dishes in the sink. Just then, Iris walked in the house and came into the kitchen.

"Hello sweetie!" Mom said and gave her a big hug.

"Good morning Stormie! Everyone else still asleep?" She asked and took a seat next to me at the counter.

"Afraid so. Do you want any waffles?"

She smiled and said,"No thanks. I already ate." Mom nodded. Rocky and Ross came down then and immediately ran to give Iris a hug.

"Morning Rissy!" Ross said.

She gave a hug in return and said,"Morning Rossy! And Rocky!" She said with a secretive smile sent his way.

They sat down and I turned to Iris and asked,"So, what do you want to do today?"

She looked at me then over to Rydel and said,"Actually I was thinking me and Rydel could go shopping today."

Rydel nodded and went upstairs to change. I looked a little skeptical "Why? You hate shopping."

"My mom is making me buy a fancy new dress for some buisness party we were invited to tonight."

My mom looked up suprised and said,"You mean the Annual Association of Buisness Owners charity event?"

Iris sunk her head into her hands and said,"That's the one."

Mom perked up and said,"Well Riker, honey, we were invited to that too. Rydel's going to need a new dress too. I'll just drive us to the mall and we can go shopping. Let me call April and see if she would like to join us."

Iris immediately looked happier and nodded. She turned to me and said,"This is great! Now I won't be the only kid there!" I smiled and nodded. She then turned an ugly shade of green.

"What's wrong?"

She turned to me. "I just remembered, we won't be the only kids there." I nodded for her to continue and she said, "His name is Gerald White. He is nerdy and disgusting, but rich, so he thinks he's a god."

I scrunched my face up in disgust and said,"Well, we'll just have to ignore him the whole night. How hard can it be?"

Her eyes widened. "Riker, he's absolutely obsessed with me. He always trys to make moves on me. He has in the past becauseI've always came without a date."

I put a comforting arm around her shoulder and said,"Don't worry. I'll be your date tonight and if he even tries to pull any of that crap, he'll have to answer to Rocky and Ross and me."

She smiled and hugged me. "Thank you so much! This really means alot to me!"

I just shrugged."Hey, it's no problem."

Just then mom walked back in and Rydel came down the stairs with her purse. Mom turned to Iris and said,"April will be here in a minute. We've decided we are gonna give you a complete make-over!"

Rydel screeched and started jumping up and down screaming "Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Rissy your going to look like a princess!"

I looked over at Iris and she mouthed "I'm doomed!". I laughed and said, "Sorry."

She then turned to mom and said,"But, why?"

Mom got the mischevious glint in her eyes again and put a hand on her shoulder. "Well, your mother doesn't want you to look so tom-boyish. So prepare for pink and sparkles."

I looked over at Iris and the look on her face said it all. I fell on the floor from laughing so hard and Iris jokingly kicked me in the side. I looked up at her and she had a matching mischevious glint in her eyes. She smirked at me and said,"Well, dearest Stormie and Rydel, Riker here just agreed to be my date so naturally we need to match."

I jumped up faster than you could say 'Green Day' and started shouting ,"No! No! No! There is no way I'm wearing pink!"

Mom looked at me and I could just see the lightbulb go off in her head. "That's a great idea! Riker, I already know which outfit you can wear too!"

I looked over at Iris who had her arms crossed over her chest and was smirking. I glared at her and heard a car horn.

"Oh April's here! Lets go girls!"

Iris kissed me on the cheek as she was walking out and her hand trailed over my chin as she did. "Payback." She whispered in my ear and I got chills all up and down my spine. She smirked and joined Rydel at the door linking their arms together.

**Iris's POV**

Rydel and I were chatting in the back seat of the car and were jamming to music while mom and Stormie brainstormed outfit ideas up front. I told Rydel all aout Gerald White and she looked disgusted. "Well, I'll stay by your side all night when Riker or Rocky or Ross can't. If he even comes within twenty feet of you, I'm sure Riker will kick his butt."

Stormie and April stopped their conversation mid-sentence and looked back to us. "Who are you two talking about?"

I looked at mom through the mirror and she started the story. "Gerald White. He's the son of one of Martin's and mine collegues from a different law firm. His family is filthy rich and snobby as can be, so naturally he thinks he's a god. Every year at this party he tries to make moves on Iris and it drives her nuts. She'd punch him in the face if she could."

Rydel and I snickered at that and Stormie looked absolutely grossed out. "Well, Riker will defintely not let that happen. And if he can't do anything Rocky or Ross sure will, they think the world of you Iris."

I blushed and laughed and said, "They're both so cute and funny. I think of them as my brothers."

Mom and Stormie smiled sweetly and Stormie continued,"Riker does too. He came home that day you met and started rambling on and on about how his 'new best friend is so pretty and cool and funny and awesome and brave'. I thought I'd have to smack him over the head to get him to shut up."

We all laughed and Rydel said,"You did."

I died laughing at that and by the time we reached the mall I was wiping tears from my eyes. We got out and mom said,"Ok, so how about you girls go off and search for dresses and me and Stormie will look for other stuff then meet at the food court in three hours?"

I nodded and mom gave me money while Stormie did the same to Rydel. We stuck it in our wallets and bounded off arm in arm to the stores. The first one we entered was called "Princess Palace." And it had alot of special occasion dresses in it. Rydel found one that was grey. It had a pleated skirt and wide, tweed, spaghetti straps with a pleated bodice and a black lace wide belt. We went over to the dressing rooms and she went in one to try it on while I sat in the small waiting area. She came back out and twirled in front of the mirror.

I squealed and jumped up saying, "Delly that looks bomb on you! You're completely getting it!"

She looked back at me with raised eyebrows and said, "Wow Rissy, where did that come from? You almost sounded girly." I got a terrified look on my face and she cracked up laughing. She changed out of the dress and paid for it.

We set back off into the mall and she said,"Well I've got mine. Now we need to find yours, then shoes, and we can hit Claires up for some accessories."

I nodded and we walked into a JC Pennys. We went straight for the prom dress section and started searching. I heard Rydel squeak from the other side of the clothes rack and ran over. She was holding up the perfect dress of my dreams. It was a strapless tafeta dress with a long pleated skirt that would drag the floor. It had a big black bow around the waist and it was a dark pink color. I had Rydel come into the dressing room with me so she could close it up in the back. We walked out and looked in the mirror. I was amazed. I looked beautiful. It hugged my waist just right, then flowed out, and the bodice fit me comfortably.

"Wow Iris. You look gorgeous." Rydel breathed out. "Riker's going to be speechless..." I faintly heard her mumble.

"Yeah. I feel beautiful." I said dazed. We went back in and I changed out of it. We bought it and went to a shoe store to look for shoes. Rydel found these gray high heels that had black lace around them and matched her dress perfectly. I found some black high heels that were strappy and had little gems on the straps. We bought them then headed into Claires. Rydel got a silver charm bracelet that had a heart with rhinestones in it and stars with diamonds in it. There was a matching necklace and she got that too. I got a plain diamond bracelet and a necklace that had 6 diamonds in it forming a little upside down pyramid.

"What about earrings?" I nodded and we started looking. Rydel found dangly diamond stars and I found a pair that had two strings of diamonds dangling down. We got a pack of fake nails to complete the look and paid. We were walking to the food court and were talking about our stuff.

"You should wear your hair up, Rissy." Rydel said.

I nodded and said,"And you should curl yours and pin half of it up with some pieces around your face."

She nodded and we spotted mom and Stormie. "You girls get everything you need?"

We nodded and I asked,"What did you guys get?"

We started walking to the pizza place and ordered a cheese pizza. We each got two pieces and started eating."Well, we each got a dress and shoes." My mom said.

Stormie nodded and took a sip of water then said,"I got some pink ties and vests for the boys so you and Riker could match."

I nodded and Rydel nudged me under the table. I nudged back and we started laughing to ourselves. My mom looked at her phone and said,"Ok, it's four now and the event doesn't start until 7:30, so that gives us three and a half hours to get ready. We can go back to our place and all get ready and just have the boys get ready at your place and meet us back at our house?"

Stormie nodded and said,"I'll work on the girls make up while you do hair?"

Mom said nodded and we walked back to the car. We carefully put our stuff in the trunk and drove back home. We jumped out and Stormie went back to her house to get the make-up and hair stuff while mom, Rydel, and I set everything up in mom's bedroom upstairs. Mom told dad to go get ready with the boys at their house and he grabbed everything and went over. Stormie came back with some make-up, curling irons, diamond clips, and mountains of bobby pins. Rydel and I sat on mom's bed and put our nails on. Then Stormie pulled me over to start on my make-up while my mom did Rydel's hair. She put foundation and light blush, then put a light amount of eyeliner on and pink shimmery eyeshadow with light mascara. She finished it off with light pink lipstick and I looked at my self in the mirror. It looked very natural and flawless. Rydel and I switched places. Rydel's hair was curly and half up half down, with diamond clasps in them. Mom started putting braids and curls in my hair then pinned them up with the diamond clasps. I looked over to Rydel. Stormie put light eyeliner and mascara with shimmery dark eyeshadow on and red lipstick. We were done and Mom and Stormie did their hair and make-up while Rydel and I were in the master bathroom carefully putting our dresses on so we didn't mess up our hair or make up. We finished putting on our jewelry and walked out. Mom had put on a yellow dress with a darker yellow band around the waist and went to the floor with white heels and pearl jewlery, while Stormie had on a royal blue dress that was sparkly and went down to a little past her knees and black heels and pearl jewlery too.

I heard the door open and close and said yell up the stairs, "You girls ready yet?"

**Riker's POV**

My brothers and I were all wearing a black tuxedo with a pink vest, white shirt, and pink tie. My hair was perfectly spiked up and so were my brother's. Martin called up the stairs and I heard April call back down,"Yeah! Get the camera ready!"

We laughed and Martin went over and took the digital camera out and got it ready. "Ok ready!" They came down the steps one at a time. Mom was first and she was wearing a pretty blue dress. Martin took a picture of her and dad. Then April came down wearing a long yellow dress. Dad took the camera from Martin and snapped a picture of them. Rydel came down next and everyone 'awed!' while dad took a picture of her. I heard the door open and close and saw Iris. She came down the stairs gracefully, holding the sides of her dress up. Her hair was pulled up in intricate braids and curls and her make-up looked flawless. Her dress was long and it looked beautiful on her. Everyone gasped and 'awed'. Her and Rydel took a picture together. Then I walked over and posed with her for a picture. I had one arm around her back and the other was holding her hand. We smiled and Martin took the picture. We walked out to our cars. Rydel and I would ride with Iris and her parents and, everyone else would go with mom and dad.

Iris and I were the last ones out and I kissed her cheek and whispered,"You look beautiful." in her ear. She blushed and we got in the car.

The car ride was silent. We got to the building and got out and walked in. It was a big ballroom that was dimly lit. There was dark red carpet everywhere and a stage for the charity event. There was a DJ booth up on stage and they were playing soft music while everyone conversed and walked around. Iris, Rydel, and I were stood in awe at the grand ballroom. Rocky and Ross and our parents came up behind us. I quickly felt Iris tense up. I looked down at her and mouthed,"What's wrong?" She shifted her back and forth from me to a boy coming up to us with his very rich looking parents.

"That's him." I heard Iris whisper. I grabbed her hand.

Gerald had on a blindingly white suit with a blue shirt and a white and blue striped bow tie. His hair was dirty blonde and he had grey eyes and glasses. His face was covered in acne and he was shorter than me and lanky. I tried to hold back a laugh and looked at Iris and whispered, "Thats him?"

She elbowed me in the ribs and said,"Shh and yes! Here he comes! Act natural." I put and arm around her shoulder and she leaned into me a bit. I smiled. Tonight was going to be fun.

**Iris's POV**

Gerald and his parents came over and I felt mom and dad whisper,"Oh, crap." I laughed a little and leaned into Riker.

Gerald's dad, Barton, smiled and shook hands with my dad. "Good to see you again, Martin." I could hear the fake politeness in his voice.

"Likewise, Barton. These are our new friends Mark and Stormie Lynch."

Barton looked over and shook hands with Stormie and Mark. "Pleasure to meet you. I'm Barton and this is my wife Cecillia, and our son Gerald."

Gerald smiled revealing his braces. Mark cleared his throat and said," Nice to meet you too. This is my wife Stormie and our kids Ryland, Ross, Rocky, Rydel, and Riker."

I couldn't help but notice Gerald glare a little at Riker. He put on a very fake smile and shook hands with Riker. "Nice to meet you Riker. Are you here alone?"

Riker smiled and said,"You too Gerald. And no, I'm Iris's date."

He glared even harder and turned to me. "Well what a pity, I was hoping you would allow me to escort you."

I sarcastically smiled and said, "Yeah well, too bad, so sad."

I heard Rydel, Rocky, and Ross snicker next to me. Gerald tried to kiss my knuckles but I pulled them away. He smiled coyly and said, "Well, perhaps you may save me a dance then?"

I stared blankly back and said,"Maybe, maybe not. My dance card will be awfully full this evening."

He then turned towards Rydel and got a evil glint in his eyes, "Well, perhaps I can dance with this beautiful young lady."

I felt Riker tense up beside me and Rydel looked way beyond grossed out. She looked him straight in his ugly eyes and said,"Sorry, I'm not much of a dancer."

Gerald looked defeated for a moment then put the same cocky, overly confident smile back on his face and said,"Some other time then." He looked over at me and reached into his coat pocket pulling out a purple flower. "Here. An Iris for my Iris."

_How cliché._

I took it, carefully so I wouldn't touch his hands. I looked over and Riker's face looked more red than the carpet we were standing on. Him and his family left and sat down at a table.

"Wow. 'An Iris for my Iris' how cheesy!" Rocky joked, mimicking Gerald's voice.

Everyone laughed and Ross turned towards me and said,"Your not going to keep it, are you Rissy?"

I shook my head and said,"Absolutey not! Besides, he gives me one every year with the same terrible pick up line."

I looked around the room and saw Brenda Mcknight. She was wearing a dark green and blue dress that was terribly tacky. She wasn't half bad looking, but had a personality to match Geralds. I smirked and said,"But I do have an idea for what I can do with this flower."

I dropped Riker's hand and waved at Brenda to come over. She nodded and pranced her way over to us. "May I help you?" She questioned a little rudely.

I smiled and said,"Yes. You see, my dear friend Gerald White asked me too give you this flower for him, and maybe, save him a dance?" I held the flower out for her and she quickly snatched it up.

"Really? He's the richest boy here! Why couldn't he give it to me himself?" She asked while sniffing the flower.

"Well, uh, you see he was just so distracted, by your beauty and beautiful dress that it made him nervous. And if he kinda ignores you all night or refuses to dance with you, he's just playing hard to get. Don't take no for an answer!" I shoved her off in his direction and everyone around burst out laughing. I turned to my parents who were still laughing quietly.

My dad patted my back and said, "Quick thinking. She gets it from me." We all laughed at that and Riker took my hand back in his.

Mom looked serious and said, "He's never been so forward before. Now Rydel may have to worry about him also. I don't want you girls going off alone tonight."

Rydel and I nodded and Mark spoke up saying, "If you can't be with one of the boys tonight, stick with each other okay? I only just met him and I already have a bad feeling about him."

We nodded. Riker then looked to Ross and Rocky and said, "Both of you stay with Rydel tonight and if he tries anything one of you come and get me, okay?"

They nodded and we set off to our table. We sat down and were served ice cold water and plates of steamed, lemon, fish and asparagus. I scrunched up my nose. I hate asparagus. I looked over at Rydel and she had the exact same look on her face. Basically the adults were the only ones eating it. I took a deep breath and cut off a small piece of my fish. I bit into it and almost gagged at the amount of lemon that was in it. I made a sour face and quickly drank my wine glass filled with water.

"Too much lemon dear?" My mom questioned. I nodded frantically and everyone chuckled. Thankfully that was only our first course. The second course was hot potato chowder and salad. I ate all my salad and soup and set my utensils on the plate to signal I was done. The waiters came by and took all our plates. While waiting for the next event to start I looked around the room. I immediately recognized the DJ as Jenna Smith. She was the DJ all the other times too. I smiled and waved at her and she did the same. She knew about the situation with Gerald and I so she wouldn't play slow songs until the very end. Unfortunately this time was different.

**  
Riker's POV**

I looked over to the stage when a man with a dark blue tuxedo came on. He walked over to the microphone, standing in the middle of the stage, and said,"We would like to welcome you all to our annual business owners ball and banquet. We will have a short award ceremony then we will start the dancing, so please try and stay awake!"

Everyone laughed and the awards began. The award ceremony lasted for about an hour with my parents and April and Martin winning two awards. It was now eight and the man walked off stage and the DJ girl started playing fast upbeat music.

Everyone at our table got up and started dancing. Rydel and Iris had a little dance off and they were doing really good. Rocky, Ross, and Ryland were dancing too and they were doing good. Ross even did a flip. Then this weird techno sounding song came on and we were all doing the weirdest dance moves we could. I won that one from doing my rendition of "The Sprinkler". All of us kids got tired so we met the adults back at our table and started downing our water. I looked over to the corner of the large ballroom and saw Gerald trying to get away from Brenda. I laughed and nudged Iris in the ribs. She looked over and started laughing. But I couldn't help the odd stare Gerald was giving her from across the room. It definitely wasn't lovestruck. It was more needy and longing. Just then a slow song came on and Iris tensed up.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

She looked over at me and said,"The DJ usually doesn't play slow songs this early."

We both looked over to the corner of the room and saw Gerald pratically running to us. I grabbed her hand and quickly stood up while motioning for Rocky to do the same. He grabbed Rydel's hand and April said,"What's wrong?"

I looked pointedly over to Gerald who was quickly making his way over to us and she nodded and got up with Martin while Mom and Dad did the same. We started slow dancing on the dancefloor with the other couples. I was gracefully twirling and dipping Iris when I looked over her shoulder and saw Gerald giving me a death glare. I spun us around so my back was facing him. The song was ending and another one was starting when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I spun around with Iris still in my arms and saw Gerald.

"May I?" He asked gesturing to Iris.

He obviously wanted to dance with her. I looked back and forth between her and Gerald. I really didn't want to be rude so I said, "If it's okay with Iris." We both looked over at her and she looked up at me with worry in her eyes. She nodded slowly and I bent down to kiss her cheek. "Rydel and Rocky are both here and so are our parents. I'll be watching from the table with the others so don't worry." I whispered in her ear. She kissed my cheek back and delicately slipped her arm from my shoulder onto his.

He pulled her close and I heard an "oomph" from Iris. I gave him a look that clearly said,"Don't try anything" and walked back to our table with jealousy in my heart and stomach. I plopped down onto my chair and Ross looked from me to the dancefloor. "Why is he dancing with Rissy? I thought she hated him!"

I looked over to him and said,"There's just some situations you can't avoid, Ross. And he knows just what they are."

Ross looked mad but nodded. Ryland looked confused and said, "Is Rissy in trouble?"

I looked over to him and said, "I don't think so Ry Ry. Not yet anyways. But if you see him trying to get to Rissy you tell me okay?" He nodded and started playing with the napkins on the table. I looked back over to them and you could see how miserable she was. Maybe I shouldn't have let her go. I probably put her in more danger.

**Iris's POV**

I was getting nauseous from all the obnoxious twirling and dipping he's making me do. He definitely doesn't have Riker's grace or gentleness. His hand had mine clasped in a death grip and were sweaty. He needed a mint real bad too. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rocky and Rydel look over at us every once in a while. I looked over to Jenna and saw the sorry look on her face watching us. I suddenly got an idea. I unknowingly to Gerald led us to the corner where the DJ booth was and turned us around so Gerald couldn't see her. I got her attention and mouthed, "Play a different song!"

She looked confused and mouthed back, "What?"

I had to wait for him to spin me back around and mouthed, "Play a different song!"

She nodded and made a sound with her turn table, making it sound like the song playing had a scratch and put on "You Can't Touch This" By MC Hammer. I quickly walked back to the table with Rocky and Rydel. Riker stood up and ran over to me opening his arms.

I ran into him and he said, "I'm so sorry Rissy, I shouldn't have let him dance with you."

I just shook my head and said,"It's alright. There's nothing you could do without being rude."

We were back on the dance floor now with Rydel, Rocky, Ross, and Ryland dancing.

"How did you do that anyway?" Rydel shouted over the music.

"I know the DJ!" I screamed back.

I saw Brenda drag Gerald out onto the floor. I quickly just wiped it from my mind and had a good time dancing. My dress was getting hot so me and Rydel went to the bathroom. There was a little zipper around my knee's on the dress and we unzipped it and walked back out. She set it on my chair and continued dancing. After that song ended it was replaced by "Hella Good" By No Doubt. I screamed and started dancing. Riker grabbed my hand and started twirling me when we both felt a tap on our shoulders.

We turned around and saw Brenda and Gerald with matching smirks. "We were wondering if you two may be interested in a little dance off?" Gerald shouted over the music.

I looked at Riker and we both nodded saying, "Bring it!"

Everyone formed a circle and they went first. They were trying to pull off some weird looking moves with Brenda shouting in his ear the whole time. Everyone was trying not to laugh but you could hear Gerald's mom screaming, "You go Gerald! Get it!"

Riker and I rolled our eyes and stormed the stage pushing them out of the way. Riker held his hand out and I took it and spun into him. He flipped me over his arm and we started break-dancing. I don't know how but all our moves were in sync. We finished and let Gerald and Brenda back on stage. They tried to copy us but failed when Gerald couldn't lift her over him and they both fell. They quickly got up and ran away into the crowd. We walked back onstage and Riker started flipping me all over him while I did twists in the air. I heard everybody scream and we both did a dance move where you half flip landing on your hands and jump back to your feet over and over again.

We nailed it as the song finished and everyone ran up and high-fived us. We walked back to the table and sat down. Riker and Ross went over to grab some water while Rydel went to the bathroom. Mark and Stormie were slow dancing and Mom and Dad were talking to other businessman. Ross went to use the bathroom so it was just me and Ryland at the table.

I was really hot and needed fresh air. So I looked at Ryland and said, "Hey, tell the others I went outside to get some air ok?"

He nodded and said, "But what if that boy finds you, Rissy?"

I hadn't thought of that. I quickly looked around for Gerald and didn't see him. His parents were still here though. "Come with me Ryland."

He nodded and got up. I grabbed his hand and led us through the big crowd of people. We went out onto the little patio in the garden and sat on the railing that separated it from the garden.

"Rissy, Why is everyone so worried about you tonight?"

I looked over at him and said, "Because there is a boy here that is obsessed with me and tries to make moves on me and I don't like it. He's very dangerous Ryland."

He nodded and I looked through the glass doors and saw Gerald heading towards me.

**DUN DUN DUN! Cliffhanger! I know I haven't updated in a while and I'm truly sorry. But I will upload the next chapter sometime next week because it's my spring break. Anyone going to Chicago on the Loud tour? I'll be there! All credit goes to Lizzie, I'm just the beta reader:)**

**Lots of love!**

**-Lora & Lizzie**


	8. Holding Out For a Hero

**Littleton Colorado, May 31****st**** 2005**

**Sunday, 9:45 p.m.**

**Iris's P.O.V**

"Ryland," I said scared. He jumped up from where he was looking at the flowers and ran over to me.

"What is it Rissy?" He asked sensing my fear.

"That boy is coming out here. Run inside and get Riker now!" He nodded and bolted inside just as Gerald was coming out.

He smiled coyly and said, "Wanted us to be alone, I see. Well, it's about time you started reciprocating my feelings." He said backing me up against the railing.

"Get over yourself White and leave me alone." I spat.

_Come on Riker, where are you?_

Gerald leaned in close to my face and had his arms on each side of me, blocking me from escaping. "Playing hard to get. I like that." He went to kiss me but I punched him in the gut. He doubled over in pain and I ran to the door, but he grabbed me around the waist and slung me back. "That really hurt. Not very lady-like of you Iris. Your little date won't be here."

I gulped and got ready to fight.

**Riker's P.O.V**

Rocky and I got back to the table and saw that no one was there.

"Where is everybody?" Rocky asked as he set the glasses of water down.

"I don't know."

Just then Rydel walked back over to the table and said, "Where's Ross, Ryland, and Iris?"

We just shook our heads and Ross came back to the table. "Where were you?" I asked him.

"I had to go to the bathroom. I left Iris and Ryland here though."

My eyes widened and I scanned the crowd looking for Iris or Ryland. I didn't see either. I didn't see Gerald either, but his parents were still here. I gulped and looked back to our group. "Gerald's not here either."

Everyone's eyes widened with panic. I looked around one more time and saw Ryland push through some people and run over to us. His cheeks were red from running. "Riker! Iris is in trouble out on the patio! It's that boy!"

I looked up to everyone and we all burst into a run, "Ryland! Get mom and dad!" I called back to him.

_God, please let her be okay._

We reached the patio and my heart dropped into my stomach at what I saw. Gerald, punching Iris in the face, Iris falling to the ground clutching her eye. I burst through the patio door and Gerald whipped around surprised. I grabbed him by the shoulders and punched him square in the jaw. He stumbled backwards, and then lunged at me. Rocky came up behind him and kicked him in the legs, hard. He fell to the ground, and then lunged at Rocky. I jumped on him and picked him up by the shirt collar. I punched him in the gut until I heard the door swing open. I made the mistake of looking back and he punched me right in the eye. My vision went blurry for a second. I heard my dad yelling at Rocky or Ross to get the cops. I regained my control and noticed my dad holding Gerald back while my mom looked at me. The doors flung open again and April and Martin came out with the cops and Ross. They handcuffed Gerald and took him inside. I looked over at Iris and wanted to cry. She was lying unconscious on the floor. Her ankle looked broken and she had a nasty black eye and bruises on her arms and jaw line. Rydel sat huddled in the corner crying and mom and April were trying to wake her up. April had tears rolling down her cheeks but didn't make any sobbing noises.

Martin came over to me and checked out my eye real quick and said, "We need to get them both to the hospital now."

My dad nodded and pulled out his cell phone to call an ambulance. I walked over to Iris's unconscious body and kneeled beside her head. I started stroking her hair and rubbing her cheekbones. I felt tears slowly prick at my eyes until they rolled down my cheeks. Rydel was sobbing in the corner so I crawled over and set her on my lap. She clutched onto my shirt and began crying even harder. I heard sirens and saw flashing lights when two men with a gurney burst through the patio doors and lifted Iris onto it. One strapped her up while the other one looked at me.

"You look pretty bad too. Come with us."

I nodded and followed them back through the ballroom. Everyone stared and was dead silent. I heard one elderly woman whisper, "Shame. Hope she's all right. So pretty to be beaten like that."

I held in my tears and ran through the doors and climbed onto the back of the ambulance. I held onto Iris's hands as one man gave me some painkillers and water. I swallowed them and he started rubbing cream on my eye. Then a lady with a clipboard came over and sat beside me.

"What's your name, son?"

I swallowed and said, "Riker Anthony Lynch."

"Birthday?" she asked.

"November 8, 1991." I replied.

"Phone number?"

"625-7309."

She nodded and wrote down on her clipboard, "Address?"

"3609 South Gordon St."

She wrote that down on her clipboard and said, "Do you know her information as well?" She pointed over to Iris and I nodded.

"Iris Marie Acker, May 8, 1991, 652-9603, 3612 South Gordon St." I finished and she wrote that down on her clipboard before scooting over to Iris and taking her pulse. We arrived at the hospital and had to wait in the waiting area while they worked on her. A nurse came out and bandaged my hand since I broke my knuckles.

"Is she going to be okay?" I asked him, as he was finishing up.

"She should be alright. They just took her in for a scan. She should be out any minute now."

I nodded and he walked off. Five minutes later, everyone else burst through the door and ran over to me. Before they could ask any questions I said, "The nurse said she'd be alright. They took her in for a CAT scan and should be out any minute."

A nurse cam out and said, "Iris Acker?"

We all stood up and Martin and April went over and said, "Yes. We are her parents."

She nodded and handed her Iris's dress, jewelry, and bobby pins. "She'll be out in just a minute but she can't have those on in the scanner."

April nodded and walked out to put it in the car. She came back in and fifteen minutes later, a doctor came out. "Iris is awake. She has a broken ankle, a black eye, and some bruises, but she'll be fine."

We all sighed in relief and he continued saying, "Visitors are welcome, but only one or two at a time." He walked back but turned around and said, "She's a brave girl. Told us the whole story. You'll find it quite riveting the way she describes it." He chuckled and walked off.

April and Martin went first and they stayed for fifteen minutes. Then Mom and Dad went and stayed for the same amount of time. Rydel and Rocky were next and they stayed for fifteen

. Rocky came back out and said, "She is the coolest person ever!"

I smiled slightly. Ross and Ryland went next and stayed in there for twenty minutes. It was finally my turn. I slowly got up and made my way to room 316.

I opened the door and heard a faint, "It's about time you showed up."

I smiled a little and walked over to her side of the bed. I pulled the chair up and grabbed her hand in both of mine. Her hair was splayed across her shoulders in waves and braids. The gold in it was twinkling from the harsh light above her head. Her face was paler than usual and there was light bruising up and down her jaw line. "My god, Rissy. What did that monster do to you?"

Her pale pink lips trembled a little and I reached out to rub her cheek lightly. She nuzzled her cheek into my palm and a tear rolled down her pale cheek. I got up and kissed it away before she started to tell me the most horrifying story I ever heard.

**Iris's P.O.V**

I took in a deep breath and started telling the story for what seemed like the fifth time that night. "I went out onto the patio with Ryland to get some fresh air. I was going to go alone but Ryland told me not to. I was just leaning up against the railing while Ryland was playing with the flowers when I saw Gerald coming to me through the glass doors. I told Ryland to go and get you. Gerald walked out and said how it was smart that I wanted us to be alone and how it was about time I reciprocated his feelings." I felt Riker's hand tense up and looked at him. He was mad. I rubbed his knuckles and picked up where I left off. "He backed me up against the railing and put his arms on both sides of me so I couldn't get away. I told him to get over himself and leave me alone. He smirked and said I was playing hard to get and how he liked it. He tried to kiss me but I punched him in the gut and ran to leave." Tears started to roll down my cheeks by then. I didn't cry when I told the others but this time I wasn't just telling a story. I was re-living it to Riker. He got closer to the bed and started wiping my tears away. I could tell he wanted to cry too.

"Then what happened?" He whispered in a scared voice.

"He grabbed me around the waist and slung me back. I hit the railing and twisted my ankle in those stupid heels. He grabbed my arms tightly and I started struggling. That's how I got the bruises on my arms. He looked at me and said how that wasn't lady like and really hurt. He also said, 'Your little date won't be here to save you.'"

I stopped and this time I really did see tears roll down his cheeks. I scooted over and pat the space next to me. He carefully climbed on and wrapped his arms around me pulling my upper body onto his chest. I looked up at him and he looked down at me. I wiped the tears off his face and kissed his cheek. I nuzzled my head into the crook of his neck with one hand resting on his chest. I took another deep breath and breathed in his scent. It instantly relaxed me and I finished my story. "I looked at him and said that I didn't like him, even a little. I told him he was a jerk and a cocky little rich boy. He punched me in the jaw and I punched him back in the nose. He started bleeding and got it all over his white suit. He got really mad and punched me in the eye and blacked out I guess." I sighed as I finished.

That wasn't the complete story. Gerald and I said some other stuff, but I wasn't going to let Riker know what it was. I looked up at him and said, "What happened after that?"

He grabbed my hand and said, "Rocky and I got back to the table around the same time Rydel and Ross did. Ross said he left you and Ryland there, and I looked around the room but couldn't find you. I couldn't see Gerald either. That's when Ryland came running up to me and said that you were in trouble with Gerald. We all sprinted to the patio and I shouted for Ryland to get mom and dad. We reached the door just as he punched you. I swear I've never been angrier in my life and I never will be. I slung the door open and he turned around and I punched him in the face. He went to punch me back but Rocky kicked him in the legs and he fell down. He went to get Rocky, but I climbed onto him and pulled him up. I punched him in the gut until I couldn't feel my hand anymore. Dad came out and I turned around when Gerald hit me in the eye. Dad held him back and Ross went inside to get your parents and the cops. They came out and arrested him. I looked over and you were unconscious. Rydel was crying in the corner and I went over and held her until the paramedics came and took us here." He finished the story and looked over at me.

I was shocked. I didn't know he could be so violent. I wish I could have seen him beat the crap out of Gerald. "I didn't know you could be so violent. I really do miss all the fun..."

He looked me dead in the eyes with a serious look on his face. He grasped my hand harder and said, "I felt my heart drop to my feet when I saw him hit you. I could have killed him."

The look on his face scared me. I hugged onto him even tighter and he said, "Its all my fault your in here. I should have been with you. I could have stopped him before anything happened to you." He started crying while saying that and I scooted up so our heads were the same height with each other. I wiped away at his tears while they pricked in my eyes. He refused to look me in the eyes so I grabbed his face and forced him too.

"Hey." I whispered. "What happened happened. If you were there you would have gotten hurt worse. You think I couldn't handle myself? I broke his nose and punched him in the gut for Petes sake!" I joked trying to make him smile.

He looked angrier and said, "But look what he did to you Iris! You have a black eye and bruises all over you! I couldn't protect you in your other schools even though I really wanted too! I could've protected you this time and I didn't! If Ryland didn't come to get me he could've done worse! I'd rather him kill me then you get hurt even a little!" He was breathing heavily now but his face turned back to a normal color.

Tears started rolling down my cheeks but I didn't make a sound. I wanted to smile. I really did. But he just said he'd die for me! I looked him straight in the eyes with a serious look on my face. He looked slightly scared and I started hitting his chest screaming, "Why would you say that? How could you die for me? Do you know what would happen if you died? I'd die! Don't ever say that to me again!" I finished in a huff with tears pouring down my cheeks.

He looked at me and said, "You want to know why I'd die for you? Because I love you! That's why! You're my best friend! No, actually you mean more to me than my best friend! There would be no me without you! That's why I'd die for you! So just shut up and out your pride away for two minutes and hug me until I'm freaking blue for all I care!"

I smiled and latched onto him. I hugged him harder than I've ever hugged anyone before in my life. He hugged me back with the same force. I wiped away the last of my tears and looked up at him. He loved me. Obviously as a friend, but still. The only people that ever cared for me were my parents, but it's just not the same when they say, "I love you." For once in my life somebody actually cared about me. My eyes watered up again and I whispered, "Nobody's ever said they loved me before. Other than my parents."

He caressed my cheek and said; "I'll say it every day if you want me too. Because I really do."

Tears really came out now but this time, for the first time in my life, they were tears of joy. "I love you too." I whispered.

We lay like that for a long time, just hugging. He was rubbing circles on my back and kissing my head ever so often. He was still in his tuxedo so I said, "You better go home and change. They're keeping me here overnight."

He shook his head and said, "I'll tell dad to bring me some clothes for tonight and tomorrow. I don't care what you say. I'm not leaving." I giggled and he got up to go out. I lay my head back down, leaving enough room for him and fell asleep.

**Riker's P.O.V**

I went out into the hallway and saw everyone there. I walked over to dad and said, "Could you bring me some clothes for tonight and tomorrow? I want to stay here with Iris."

He nodded and him and mom got up with Rocky, Ross, Ryland, and Rydel and went home. I sat in the chair next to Martin because April went to use the bathroom. I put a comforting hand on his shoulder but he pulled me into a hug. I hugged him back and he said, "Thank you."

I was confused. "For what?"

He pulled back and smiled, "For being there, all the time. We've never stayed in one place long enough for Iris to make friends. She's always been so conservative and independent. You changed that. She cares again. I haven't told her yet, but we're staying here for good."

My eyes widened in shock and I smiled big. "That's great! We'll be friends forever now! You know I would do anything for her, I love her."

He nodded and said, "I know you would. It's so easy to love her, I'm happy somebody else finally realizes it. She did have one friend once..." He trailed off, not knowing if he should tell me or not.

I nodded and said, "Amanda. She told me about it. I wish I could've known her too."

He looked surprised and said; "I'm surprised she told you about her. She wouldn't even talk to April or me about it. It was so sad at their funeral. She cried her eyes out when it happened but she refused to at the funeral. Iris loves you too you know."

I nodded, not knowing what to say. He spoke up again after a few moments of silence and said, "Your good for her. She thinks she can handle anything and everything that comes her way but she can't. She can be so stubborn sometimes. I know you're not afraid to yell at her when she's like that."

April came back by then and sat down. She had tear tracks on her face but I could tell she was all right. My dad walked back in with a backpack that had my stuff in it. I walked over and took it. He gave me a quick hug and said goodnight. I returned the favor and walked back over to April and Martin. I looked at the hospital clock and saw it was midnight. I walked over and put a hand on her shoulder.

She looked up at me with tired eyes and I said, "You two should go home and get some sleep. I'm staying with her tonight, she'll be fine."

They nodded and got up. Martin nodded at me and walked over to the door. April kissed my cheek and hugged me goodnight. I kissed her cheek back and said, "Goodnight second mom."

She laughed a little and turned around and left. I sighed and walked back to her room. I opened the door and she was asleep. I smiled and went into the bathroom to change. I looked in the mirror. My eye wasn't getting worse, but it wasn't getting better either. I splashed some water on my face and dried it off. I walked back outside and Iris's eyes fluttered open. I walked over and picked her up and scooted her over on the bed.

I climbed in and she yawned. "Where are mom and dad?"

I turned her head around so I could take the braids out and said, "I told them to go home. They'll be back tomorrow."

I got the last braid out and untangled it. I put the little rubber bands on the table and turned the light off. I lay my head down on the pillow and put my arm around her. She snuggled her back into me and pretty soon I heard soft snores. I kissed her hair and fell asleep.

**Hey there! How's it going peeps:)? I hope you guys had a happy Easter. My spring break just ended but I should be able to get the next chapter up soon. By the way, I went to the R5 concert in Chicago. My friend Tiani and I were waiting since eight in the morning and it was pretty crazy. But we still got front row and I had an amazing time:) **

**Lots of love!**

**-Lora & Lizzie**


	9. My Confession

**Littleton Colorado, June 1****st**** 2005**

**Monday, 9:00 a.m.**

**Iris's P.O.V.****  
**

I woke up at nine and looked around the room. It was really bright from where the curtains were drawn. I looked around the room and saw my mom and Stormie sitting on the little couch, reading magazines. Rydel was asleep on the chair beside my bed, and Ryland was on her lap. I was lying on the bed with my head and arm on Riker's chest. He was still asleep and his mouth was slightly open, he had his arms around me and his head was on top of mine. I rolled over off of him and rubbed my eyes. Mom and Stormie looked up from their magazines and mom got up and walked over to my side of the bed.

"Good morning honey. How do you feel?"

Rydel woke up by then with a jump by then and almost knocked Ryland off her lap. I quickly grabbed him and pulled him onto my lap. I laughed and said, "Fine. My ankle is throbbing a little but that's it."

She nodded and said, "I'll go get the nurse to give you some pain medication."

I nodded and she walked out. Riker woke up by then and started rubbing his eyes. He got off the bed and grabbed his backpack to go change. I scooted Ryland off my lap and onto the empty space next to me. I sighed and looked over at Rydel. "I am so bored!"

She nodded and said, "Well, Dad is at work and Martin is going to come get you when they let you out of here at noon. What do you want to do?"

I just shrugged and said, "Well, my ankle is sprained so I can't do much. I would really like some fresh air though."

She thought for a moment and said, "Well, you need to keep your ankle moving so why don't we just go to the park? Just the two of us? And we can swing or something."

I nodded and said, "Yeah, that sounds fun enough. Then we could just go back to my house and do something."

She nodded and Riker walked out of the bathroom. He was wearing a blue plaid button up and some jeans and converse. He sat in the chair on the other side of the bed and said, "How do you feel?"

I smiled and said, "Like I got beat up from some snobby rich kid who can throw a killer right hook."

Riker put on a sarcastic thoughtful look and said, "Wow! That is so weird!"

I laughed and mom came back in with the nurse. She handed me two pills and a cup of water and I took them. She did my check up and said, "Alright now, you need to move your ankle as much as possible and stretch that muscle out or else it will tense up and hurt really bad. It should be good by next week and I'm going to get you some crutches that you can walk around on until then."

I nodded and thanked her and she went to leave. But before she walked out the door she turned around and said, "You have two more visitors. Should I send them in?"

I thought about it for a moment. I didn't know anybody else that would want to see me. But I nodded anyway and the nurse left. Rydel started brushing my hair really quick so I would look presentable. After about five minutes, there was a knock on the door.

Riker got up an answered it saying, "Uh, h-hey. Come in."

I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was shocked. The visitors walked in and my eyes and everyone else's grew wide. There standing in front of my bed were Barton and Cecellia White. They looked nervous, and ashamed. I looked over at my mom and I could tell that she was holding back a fit. I sighed and nodded to them both saying, "Hello Barton, Cecillia."

They nodded back and Cecillia handed me a bouquet of blue flowers. "Here. We bought these for you."

I smiled and took them. I have to admit. They were very pretty. "Thank you. They're beautiful."

She nodded and they looked around the room somewhat awkwardly. I cleared my throat and put on my best 'professional' face and said, "I'm assuming there's a bigger reason why your here. No offense but your the last people that would come to see me."

Barton looked nervous and spoke up saying, "We came here to apologize for what Gerald has done. I don't know why he did it, even after you turned him down all those times, he was never mad." I could tell it took a lot for him to swallow his pride and say that. I nodded and Cecillia spoke up saying, "We've checked him into a juvenile detention center where they can help him. What we really need to know is if you're planning on suing us."

I sighed. I knew it would be something like this. I looked around the room and thought. Mom was nodding for me to say yes, Stormie looked at me expectant, and Riker and Rydel looked at me as if saying, "Of course she's gonna sue!" I just sighed and thought some more. Their son is already in juvy, they'll probably be in the newspaper about this accident and they'll lose a lot of business. But, I couldn't let them or Gerald get away with this. I got my thoughts together and cleared my throat saying, "No. I won't sue."

Everyone jumped up screaming, "Why not?" and "Rissy, look what that monster did to you!"

I just shushed them with a wave of my hand and said, "I'm not suing. But I would like a restraining order drawn up." I looked over at mom and she nodded. She got up and brought Barton with her to make the arrangements.

Cecillia looked relieved and said, "Thank you Iris. You're such a kind girl. I can't thank you enough." I just nodded. She left without another word.

I looked over to Riker and he looked furious. He jumped up from his seat and started yelling, "Iris how could you not sue Gerald? Look at what he's done to you and me! Are you stupid? Your just gonna let him get away with this?"

Stormie got up and shushed him saying, "Riker, there's nothing to be so angry about."

He just waved her off. I made room at the end of the bed and he sat down cross-legged. I grabbed his hands and looked him straight in those deep brown eyes and said, "Riker, I'm not suing. It took a lot of courage for them to swallow their pride and apologize to me. Think about them for a moment. Their son is abusive and in juvy right now, this whole thing is going to be all over the news. They might even lose their business. They may not be the nicest people in the world, but they have enough stress right now. And think about society! They were at the top of the game and had everything! Now they are going to be the disgrace of all their business colleagues. I'm not going to make their lives worse! And Gerald won't be allowed to come near me again. It may not be the most reasonable decision, but I think it's the right one!"

He looked relaxed and said, "I know. I'm sorry. I just don't want you getting hurt again."

I knew all those feelings of regret were coming back to him from last night, so I pulled him into a hug and whispered, "It's not your fault. Stop beating yourself up over it."

He nodded into my shoulder and pulled back, wiping tears from his eyes. Mom came back in, but this time dad came with her. He gave me a backpack with some clothes in it and said, "Your mother and Barton tell me your not going to sue." I shook my head and he spoke up again saying, "Well, The Whites are grateful. Their business has already lost a lot of profit from this whole charade. I'm proud of you honey." He kissed the top of my head. I just nodded and looked down.

The nurse came in with some crutches by then. I had to stand up so she could adjust them for me and she said I could go anytime now. I thanked her and hopped into the bathroom to change. I put on some khaki shorts and my green, now washed, All American Reject's t-shirt. I brushed my hair and teeth and washed my face. My left foot had a blue cast on it so I only needed one shoe. I put on my black converse low tops and hopped back out. I looked around and said, "Are you guys ready to go?"

They all nodded and I got my bag and made my way down the hallway. Dad checked me out and we walked out to my dad's truck. Dad opened the back door and Rydel grabbed my crutches while Riker lifted me up bridal-style and set me in. Rydel handed me back my crutches and Riker got in with me.

**Riker's P.O.V**

I lifted her up and put her in the truck. Rydel handed her back her crutches and I got in on the other side. I finally had enough time to think and I still had the same thing on my mind. The kiss. The car ride home was very silent. But more like a comfortable silence. Martin was concentrating on driving. April was on the phone with the lawyer getting the restraining order in order, and I'm sure Iris was tired, or maybe she was just thinking too. Was she thinking about the kiss? How did we go so long without talking about it? Should we even talk about it? Or just brush it off and move on? My mind was going a thousand miles a minute. And wouldn't you know that's the very song that decided to come on the radio at that moment. "A Thousand Miles" By Vanessa Carlton. Iris perked up and quietly said, "Turn it up."

Martin did and smiled. April got off her phone and said, "Oh, Rissy! Your favorite song!"

I looked over at her and she slightly smiled and laid her head back on the door. I wanted so badly too cheer her up, just to make her smile. So I cleared my throat a little and started singing.

_Making my way down town, walking fast,  
Faces pass, and I'm homebound. _

_Staring blankly ahead, just making my way, _

_Making my way and I'm homebound.  
_  
Martin smiled at me through the rearview mirror and looked over at April. She nodded and smiled back. I looked over at Iris and she still looked slightly sad. I nodded to Martin and April and they started sing.  
_  
And I need you. _

_And I miss you  
and now I wonder._

_If I could fall, into the sky, _

_Do you think time would pass us by? _

_Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles_

_If I could just see you  
tonight._

April was smiling the whole time she was singing and she had a beautiful voice. Martin smiled and grabbed her hand and held in on the gearshift. I smiled and looked over to Iris. She slowly brought her head back up and yawned. She rubbed her eyes and waited for the next verse to come on. She looked back out the window and sang.

_It's always times like these when I think of you _

_And I wonder if you ever think of me._

I smiled despite myself. Those lyrics really fit to what I was feeling right now. And judging by the deep thoughtful look on her face and the emotion she put into her voice, she was thinking the same thing too. I grabbed her hand and sang the next lines.

_Cause everything's so wrong, and I don't belong.  
I'm living in your precious memory._

She hesitated for a moment and looked down at our hands intertwined. She rubbed her thumb over my knuckles and slowly brought her head up to mine. She looked down at my lips, and then her eyes met mine. They bore into mine and I swear I saw my future in them. She opened her mouth and sang.

_Cause I need you. And I miss you.  
And now I wonder. If I could fall, into the sky. _

_Do you think time would pass me by?  
_  
I licked my lips and sang with her. Our voices mixing in perfect harmony.  
_  
Oh oh, _

_Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles if I  
could just see you, tonight._

She smiled and leaned into me. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and she smiled up at me for a moment. She snuggled into my side and wrapped her arm around my middle. I couldn't help but be amazed as she closed her eyes, and sang the most beautiful notes I've ever heard.

_And I, I don't wanna let you know,_

_I, I Drowned in your memory. _

_I, I don't wanna let this go. I, I don't. _

_Making my way downtown. _

_Walking fast, faces pass and I'm homebound. _

_Staring blankly ahead. Makin' my way. _

_Makin' a way through the crowd. _

April looked back at us and smiled. She gave me a very discreet wink and I blushed. I lay my head down and my cheek was on the top of her head. She brought my hand up and kissed it. Now I blushed all the way to my roots. I sighed dreamily on accident and I could hear Martin slightly chuckle. I coughed to cover it up but I could tell they didn't buy it. I shook it off and sang the next line as emotionally as I could.

_And I still need you. And I still miss you.  
And now I wonder..._

Iris sang the next part with me and just like all the other times we've sang before, my heart skipped every other beat and filled with love. If I could love her anymore, I could.

_If I could fall, into the sky._

_Do you think time, would pass us by? _

_Cause you know I'd walk A thousand miles  
if I could just see you no oh oh_

If I could fall, into the sky, 

_Do you think time, would pass us by? _

_Cause you know I'd walk A thousand miles, if I could just see you_

Iris tightened her grip around my waist and sang the next line beautifully and it took all I had not to kiss her senseless right there.

_If I could just hold you, tonight._

She sighed this time in content and I kissed her head. She was smiling now and that's all I wanted, to see her happy. The car pulled up the driveway. Martin parked the car and we all got out. I stretched and walked around to open Iris's door. Mom pulled up in her car right behind us and Rocky, Rydel, Ross, and Ryland piled out. Rydel came over and grabbed her crutches, while I lifted her up and out of the car. April handed Rocky the house keys and he went to go unlock the door. Iris went to get down but I held on tighter.

"Um, Riker? You can let me down now." She said with a chuckle.

I just shook my head and said, "Sorry. No can do. I'm literally gonna be right by your side until you can walk again."

She smiled and said, "Well alright then. Can't say no to a personal slave!"

Rocky held the door open and as we passed Iris ruffled his hair. He smiled and pretty soon we were all inside their house. I walked into the living room and gently set her down on the couch. I pulled the coffee table over, and stuck some pillows on it. Then, I carefully lifted her bad foot and stuck it on the pillow. I knew she was watching me do it the whole time with a smile on her face. I looked over at her confused.

"What?" I asked.

She just shrugged and said, "Well, if this is how your going to pamper me the whole two weeks my ankle is sprained, I should have injured myself a long time ago."

I chuckled and looked over at everyone else standing in the middle of the archway, they all scattered about. Rydel rushed over and leaned the crutches on the wall next to the couch and sat down. Rocky and Ross sat on the floor on each side of Iris's leg, and Ryland climbed onto her lap. Martin, April, and mom were all chatting in the kitchen making coffee and popcorn.

Iris looked over at me and said, "Well, why don't you go up to my room with Rocky and Ross and pick out a movie or something?"

I nodded and Rocky and Ross came with me up the stairs to her room. I opened the door, and just as it always is, was spotless. Rocky whistled and said, "Wow! How does she always keep her room so clean?"

I just shrugged and went over to her closet. I opened it and went in. There was a large cabinet and I opened it up and was met by her secret stash of movies. I started sorting through them, when something fell of from the top of the stack. I quickly picked it up and found it was a book. It was a bright blue with music note stickers all over the front. I was curious now, so I opened it up. The first page was blank and said, "Iris's Journal" I quickly covered my hand over my mouth in excitement. I found her diary! Maybe there's something about me in it! I went to flip it to the next page, when some more writing caught my eye. It was a note from Iris.

_If found, please do not read. There are my personal thoughts and feelings in this book, and they are not meant for anyone else to read it. I would appreciate if you just returned it to me immediately._

I frowned a little. My inner voice started scolding me saying, 'Of course she wouldn't want you to read it! How could you even think about that!'

But unfortunately, that was drowned out by an even bigger voice saying, 'Uh hello? Did you see the note? It said, "Personal thoughts and feelings!" There's bound to be something she wrote about you in it!' I took a deep breath, and flipped through the book, until I got to the last page. It was from the night we kissed.

There, in Iris beautiful cursive handwriting, and her favorite sparkly blue ink wrote_, "Riker kissed me tonight. We were slow dancing and the DJ picked us to kiss out of all the other couples. We started getting embarrassed and everyone else was screaming at us to kiss, so I told him too. He slowly bent down and was just centimeters from my lips when he stopped. I was really kinda disappointed, but he told me that Rydel and Rocky were watching us and were the ones to put us up to it. I didn't believe him for a second, so I looked over and, sure enough, they were there. I was completely lost in my anger until Riker said something about "Giving them a show". I was convinced I didn't hear him right and turned around to ask. Just as I opened my mouth to ask, Riker crashed his lips down onto mine. I was shocked for a moment, until I felt the full force of a kiss. My arms and chest started tingling and it was the most amazing feeling ever! He put his hand on the back of my neck and my knees went completely weak. I knew he just wanted to teach Rydel and Rocky a lesson, but it felt so real. It was so full of passion and want. Our mouths were moving in perfect sync. I know I shouldn't have, but I couldn't resist getting completely lost in, what could very practically be classified as, the best kiss of my life. I couldn't help myself after a while and ran my hands up his arms and felt his fairly well coming along, biceps. I ran my hands up over his chest too and it took all I had not to squeal at the hardness of them. But the best part was when I let my hands roam into his hair. It was smooth and soft and it felt wonderful between my fingers. I had to hold myself back from punching Rydel and Rocky in the face for pulling us apart. We chased them around and they said they did it as a prank. I didn't buy any of it. So later that night I asked Rocky why they really did it. I won't write it down in here why because it's not safe enough, but boy, Rydel is going to annoy the crap outta me in the future."_

That was were it stopped and I looked up from the book. My breathing was heavy, and I'm pretty sure I was going to have a heart attack. I couldn't believe what I just read! I wanted to jump up and down and squeal likes some sort of girl! I really needed to know what Rocky said to Iris. But really, I needed to talk to Iris. I put the book back where I found it and raced out of the closet and to the bedroom door.

"Did you find one?" I heard Ross ask, but I just ignored them and flew downstairs.

"Iris, I-" I cut off when I skipped off the last stair and saw she wasn't there.

I looked over to April for an answer and she said, "Her and Rydel went to the park."

I nodded and ran to the front door. I threw it opened and ran down the driveway and down the sidewalk. I decided I needed to tell her how I felt before my confidence wore out. I kept running as fast as I could until I got to the park. I slowed down and caught my breath for a moment, and I noticed a familiar looking flower pop out from the base of a large oak tree. I walked closer to it and saw it was a white Iris. I smiled at the perfectness of it all. The edges of the petals were kissed with a faint pink color, and it reminded me just like her. I carefully picked it and brought it up to my nose. The fragrance was light and sweet and completely hypnotizing. I gently cradled it in my fingers and walked around the park trying to find them. After a good ten minutes of walking, it was a huge park after all, I found them sitting on the swings and talking. I was coming up from the side and I was very careful so they wouldn't see me right away. I was about ten feet away when I started to hear their conversation.

"Do you love him, Rissy?" I heard Rydel ask and saw her put a hand on Iris's shoulder. I quickly dove behind the big yellow slide and listened intently.

'Are they talking about me?' my inner voice asked.

My heart started racing at the speed of light as I awaited her answer. I peeped out from the slide just long enough to see her double over and stick her head in her hands, "I do, but we're the best of friends! We're better than best friends! I couldn't jeopardize that! And what about when my parents get transferred and have to move again? We'd have to break up and everything would be ruined! As much as it hurts me to say this, it's best if we don't get together."

I made a choking sound and quickly put my hand over my mouth. I was a little too late as I saw both their heads snap to my direction and I quickly hid back behind the slide. I dropped the flower and ran along the side of the play set so they wouldn't see me and ran as fast as I could until I got to my house. I ran into the back yard and climbed up my big oak tree. It was my secret tree where I went to get away from everything and think. I had everything up here in a little pouch I made. The tears started to prick at my eyes and I furiously wiped them away. My heart felt like it dropped to my feet and got stomped on. I felt the saddest I have in a long time. But as much as I want to hate her for saying that, I couldn't.

She was right. What if something did come up and they would have to move again? We were only fourteen! We couldn't keep up with a long distance relationship! And everything would be so wrong and awkward. The tears finally came in forms of waterfalls. I started to wipe them away when I looked at the tree trunk. I had carved a lot of pictures on it from when I was younger. I traced my fingers over one when I saw a blank spot. I wiped the tears away and dug in the pouch for my old pocketknife that my grandpa gave me when I was seven. I took it out and opened the blade. It was pretty dull and the ivory handle was starting to wear out. I placed the blade up to the tree trunk and started making lines and letters. After five minutes of carving, permanantly carved in the tree trunk said, "Riker Anthony Lynch Loves Iris Marie Acker Forever and Always."

Cliché ... I know, but it said exactly what I feel. That no matter what happens and where we go in life, I will love that girl for the rest of my life. She has had my heart since the first day she almost ran over me on her skateboard. I thought back to what she said before she said we should just be best friends, she said she loved me too. So if anything is going to happen for us, it'll probably happen in the future. We're only fourteen; we literally have our whole lives to worry about love!

On that happy note, I put my pocketknife back in my pouch, and sighed. I looked back over to my carving and traced my fingers over each letter slowly. I went to climb out of my tree when I looked down onto my street. Rydel and Iris were making their way up the street. They were talking and laughing, and I noticed something Rydel give her something, my white iris. Her facial features went soft, and she pulled the flower up to her nose and breathed in the scent. She motioned for Rydel to go on ahead of her and she did.

She just stood there, smelling my flower. I climbed down the tree and brushed myself off. I ran to check my reflection in the glass doors on the deck. My eyes were only slightly red now and I figured she wouldn't notice. I ran off the deck and onto the sidewalk. I slowed down when I was about five feet behind her. I quickly caught my breath and walked up to her. I don't know how she knew but before I even had a chance to get to her she turned around and flung her arms around my neck.

I was shocked for a moment and said, "How'd you know I was here?"

She just laughed and said, "I didn't. I just hoped you were."

I smiled. She even felt when I was around. We stood there hugging for a while before she said; "I know you were listening to us at the park."

I tensed and said, "Shoot. I thought I was in a pretty safe hiding spot."

She softly laughed into my shoulder and said, "Well, what do you think?"

I knew what she was talking about and said, "I think we're young, and we have our whole lives to think about that stuff. I think you were right and all I want is you happy." She pulled her head away from my neck and looked at me with confusion in her eyes. "Liar. Your eyes are red and you've been crying. Tell me what you really think."

I sighed and smiled a million dollar smile and said, "I don't think you can handle what I think."

She smiled and leaned her forehead against mine and said, "Try me."

I saw the smirk on her features and wrapped my arms around her waist bring her closer. I sighed and said, "Okay. I think that you really are right and we should remain friends. But there is something else I want." I trailed off wanting her to guess.

She pulled her head back and said, "What?" Her eyes sparkled with confusion and her eyebrows scrunched together making the cutest face I've ever seen. I suddenly got very nervous and realized I had to tell her about me reading her journal. I took a deep breath and said, "Well, when I was up in your room getting a movie, your diary fell down from the top shelf."

Her eyes widened and she looked horrified. "I'm really sorry I did this but I may have, read an entry from it."

She looked angry now and said in a very low and menacing voice, "Which one."

It wasn't much of a question, in fact it sounded like she demanded me to tell her. I took a deep breath and said, "The last one." I shrunk back a little and waited for her to blow up at me, but it never came. She kind of just collapsed into me and rested her head on my shoulder.

I heard her groan and she said, "This is just great. You probably think I'm some stupid love struck sappy girly girl now. Just kill me."

I started chuckling quietly and she handed me one of her crutches and said, "Here. Just hit me repeatedly over the head with it. Feel free to hesitate."

I started laughing now and shook my head. I pulled her back into a hug and said, "I do not think that. But if you're so embarrassed about it, I won't bring it up again."

She sighed in relief and pulled back. I gave her a mischievous smirk and she said, "Your going to blackmail me aren't you? Well, crap. I knew it was too good to be true. What do you want me to do?"

I crossed my arms and said, "Kiss me."

Her eyes widened in shock and she said, "Kiss you! Why?"

I eased up on my smirk and said, "Your confused, I'm confused. I figured if one kiss could put us into this mess it can take us out of it."

She looked slightly better and crossed her arms mumbling a "Fine."

I smiled and took the crutches out of her hands and laid them against the mailbox. She was hopping on one foot for a while and I picked her up bridal style. She clung onto my shoulders and said, "What are you doing? I thought you wanted to kiss me?"

I smiled and said, "I do. Just not right here."

She started asking me a bunch of questions and I just laughed as I walked us all the way back to the park. The sun was starting to set now and it looked beautiful. I walked over to the swing set and set her down on one.

She grabbed onto the chains and said, "Okay, we're here. Now what's your plan?"

I smiled and crossed my arms saying, "Well, there's a few rules for this kiss."

She looked mad and said, "What? No, you said one kiss! You can't just keep adding stuff! "

I smirked and said, "Yes I can, because this is blackmail and you have to do it."

She pouted and looked down saying, "You suck. What are they?"

I thought for a moment and said, "It has to be a real kiss. It's strictly for sorting things out between us, and we have to talk about it afterwards."

She looked defeated and said, "Deal." I sighed.

This was it. I was about to do what I've wanted to do every day for a long time now. I licked my lips and got down on one knee. Her eyes met mine and I slowly leaned forward. One of my hands found its way to her hair and pushed it back behind her ear, while the other one rested on her leg. I closed my eyes and our lips collided. I felt her relax and her hands went from around the chains onto my shoulders. She kissed me back and I felt what I've wanted to feel again for so long. The sparks and pulsing running up and down my veins were exhilarating. My heart inside my chest felt like what you feel when you go to a concert, and the drums are pounding. I started moving my mouth along with hers and I felt perfect bliss. Her hands moved from on my shoulders down my arms and gripped onto the muscle there. I shivered and I felt her smirk underneath the kiss. I slowly slid my hand from her leg up her side and around her back pushing her into me more. Her hands went up and started tugging at the hair on the back of my head. I slowed the kiss down until it was just soft little pecks on her lips.

We pulled apart and opened our eyes at the same time. Her lips were red and slightly swollen and I'm sure mine were as well. We were breathing heavily and just stared at each other for the longest time. We didn't need to talk because that kiss said it all and we were just trying to process it. After a while Iris looked back into my eyes. I was still down on my knee in front of her and she whispered saying, "I do love you Riker. I really, really do."

I looked back at her and saw she wasn't finished. So I gently cupped her chin and said, "I love you too Iris, and that's why we can't be together."

She nodded and I could see a tear run down her cheek until it hit my hand. She wiped away the track it left and said, "I know. We can't ruin what we have right now. Do you think we can just wait? Until we're old enough to understand?"

I looked back into her eyes and nodded saying, "Absolutely. I'll wait for you, Iris. I love you so much."

She smiled and hugged me loosely around my middle with her head resting back on my shoulder. I hugged her back with one arm around her waist and the other in her hair. I picked her up off the swing and spun us around a little. She was laughing into my shoulder and I held her even tighter. It's not everyday you find a girl like Iris, that's why I know I have to hold onto her as tight as I can and never ever let her go.

**Fluffity Fluff Fluff! Haha:) My gosh, I've been so MIA lately and it's my entire fault! I even some of MMB done, but I have to upload it. I'll upload as soon as I can!**

**Lots of love!**

**- Lora & Lizzie**


	10. Bandin' Together!

**Littleton Colorado, July 31****st**** 2005**

**Sunday, 1:05 p.m.**

**Iris's P.O.V.**

It was kind of hard for weeks because my ankle was sprained, but I managed. Riker was being more clingy than usual, and would barely let me lift a finger. For instance, my parents were going to a town a few hours away and had Riker_ baby-sit_ me because they wouldn't be home until late at night.

Well, I wanted to get up and get some juice and before I could even get my foot off the couch, Riker jumped up and said, "You want juice, don't you? I'll get it!"

And before I could even breathe, he sat back down with my favorite juice poured into my favorite cup. I was seriously starting to get worried about him because he would treat me like I was about to break any second. So, after he insisted on carrying me up to my room, I sat him down on the bed and asked him what was up.

***Flashback***

"Riker, whats up? You've been acting really weird lately."

He refused to look me in the eyes. I put my hand on his shoulder and he finally looked back up to me.

"I, I don't know." He said with a frustrated sigh.

I took a deep breath and said, "Ok. Well, you've been acting very...on edge, around me."

His fists were balling up and clutching my sheets and then letting go. That's how I knew he was mad, frustrated, or worse, both. I grabbed both his hands and held them up into mine. I smiled the biggest and brightest smile I could and all he could do was give me a tiny grin in return. I sighed in defeat and yanked on his arms until we were both lying down on the bed. I got on top of him and started tickling his sides until I got one solid laugh out of him. I flipped back over on my back and he turned onto his side to look at me. He had his head propped up on one arm and just stared at me.

I smiled and said, "Are you going to tell me what's wrong now?"

His features hardened a little and he said, "I couldn't protect you."

I suddenly got really frustrated and said, "Really? Riker, what happened, happened. You have to let it go."

He looked into my eyes with uncertainty sparking in his. He looked back and forth between my eyes and said, "You're just saying that. What if you're really mad at me for not being there sooner?"

The look on his face tore a piece of my heart out. I wrapped both arms around his neck and brought him down in a tight hug. "If I was really mad at you, I would most definitely let you know."

He chuckled a little and buried his head in my neck saying, "I know you would."

He fully laid down by now and wrapped his arms, very gently, around my middle. I got aggravated again and jerked up. He sat up with me and said, "What? What did I do?"

I looked over at him annoyingly and said, "Stop treating me like I'm going to break or something!"

He looked amused and said, "Well, what do you want me to do? You have bruises on top of your bruises now."

Just then my eyes widened in realization. "Crap!" I said as I got up and hopped over to my bathroom.

He came over with me and said, "What's wrong this time?"

I looked at him through my mirror while I was looking for the little blue jar. "Mom told me to put that cream on my bruises again before I went to bed." I finally found it and Riker snatched it from me and started unscrewing the cap.

I looked at him confused and he said, "Well, turn around." My eyes widened and I pushed him out of my bathroom and locked the door. I slipped on my bathing suit top that I use for putting the cream on and opened the door.

He stood there with red cheeks and said, "Yeah. That was probably a good idea."

I laughed and turned around, holding my hair up. He started massaging the cream into my bruises and it stung. Way worse then last time. I started squeaking and biting my lip in pain. My eyes were watering now and I was wiping them furiously with my free hand. He got done with the back and turned me around. He saw the tears in my eyes and frowned.

"I'm sorry. But it's gonna help."

I smiled a watery smile and nodded. He gave me one in return and started rubbing more cream onto my stomach. He finally got to the bruise on my jaw and gently rubbed it in. His fingers lingered there for a second and he pulled me into a gentle hug.

We stood there for a minute and he said, "Was it a mistake?"

I pulled back and said, "What?"

He looked me into my eyes. "The kiss. Should we not have done it?"

I looked at him softly for a moment. He seemed regretful, like he was sorry for doing it. I pulled him over to my bed and sat him down. I hopped over and grabbed my guitar. I sat down on the floor and he laid down on his stomach on my bed. I started strumming "Kiss Me" by Sixpence Non The Richer. I sat there singing in what could have been the most beautiful voice I've ever heard myself sing in. Maybe it was because I was singing with raw emotions. Riker was lying with his head in his hands and the room was dark. My blinds were open and the moon was the only lighting. It almost felt to romantic for comfort. But I quickly pushed that thought to the back of my mind and focused on my playing and singing. I strummed the last notes and looked up at him. His eyes were dim but in more of a love struck way. He had no smile on his face but you could tell he was happy. He pushed my hair back behind my ear and kissed me on the cheek.

I put my guitar down beside me and got up to go into my bathroom. I shut the door and put my pajama shirt and stuff back on. I walked over to my bed and we got under the covers. I heard a car pull up and the headlights flashed into my room. He got off my bed and gave me a kiss on the forehead before walking out of my room without a word.  
**  
*End of Flashback***

**Riker's P.O.V.**

She told me not to beat myself up about it. She told me that she was all right with it. Then, why am I still so mad at myself for not being there? I need to talk to someone besides Iris about this. I've already been up for two hours thinking about this. I decided I needed to talk to my mom and dad about this. I walked downstairs to see everyone but Rydel there.

"Where's Rydel?" I asked.

My mom looked up from where she was reading a magazine on sowing and said, "She went to Iris's house."

I nodded and looked over at my dad. "I need to talk to you and mom about something important."

They nodded and got up. Dad led us all to his study. The walls were a dark green with a mahogany desk and big bookshelves that reached the ceiling and were jam-packed with every book you could imagine. I sat down on the big leather chair while dad sat at his desk and mom sat on his desk.

I sighed and said, "It's about Iris."

Mom looked at dad and they both nodded. Dad then stood up and kneeled down beside my chair. "What about her?"

I sighed and said, "She told me not to beat myself up over what happened at the ball, but I can't help but feel like it was my fault that she got hurt so bad."

Dad looked over at mom and said, "Well, I think you just feel guilty because you promised you'd be there for her all that night. You have to remember though; Gerald knew what he was doing. He knew you'd have to leave her side eventually. But you did the right thing going after her. And I think she held her own out there pretty well."

I nodded and looked down. "I couldn't be there for her at her old schools when she got hurt. And she won't even let me do anything to help her when she gets hurt at our school. I want to feel like a man and help her. She just won't let me though."

Mom chuckled and I looked over at her. She hopped off his desk and sat on the arm of my chair. "Honey, I don't know if you've noticed this but, she's definitely not like most girls. She doesn't exactly need a boy, or a man, to help her. She's very independent, and she's not about to let anybody take that away from her. If she needs it enough though, there's not a doubt in my mind that you'll be the one she turns to for help."

I smiled a little and said, "I know she's not like most girls. That's why I love her..."

I looked over to my dad and he said, "Have you sorted that out yet too?"

I sighed and nodded saying, "We've decided that we'd wait until we were older and just enjoy the time we have together being best friends."

Mom smiled and said, "I think that's a wise decision. You only have a few short years being a kid Riker, make em' count."

I nodded and got up to go out, but before I could, my dad called me back and said, "There is one more important thing I think you should know about though..."

I looked over at mom and she was just barely holding back a huge smile. I motioned for him to continue and he said, "You all have been playing in the basement for a while now... so I've decided to sign you up as a band for the Summer Music Festival that goes on before school starts."

I yelped and ran over and tackled him in a huge hug. I went over to mom and gave her one too before running out the door and down the hallway. Barely getting my sandals on before running out the door and down the sidewalk to Iris's house.

**Iris's P.O.V.**

Rydel came over at around noon saying she had some awesome news to tell me. I was sitting on my bed strumming my guitar when she burst through my door and body slammed me on the bed.

"Delly" I groaned. "What was that for?"

She shot up like a bullet and started squealing, "Daddy signed us up as a band to play the Summer Music Festival that goes on the day before school."

I shot up to and said, "Oh my goodness! That's amazing! Wait, before school? So like, next week?"

She nodded and I shot up running around the room getting my purse/ backpack and my emergency credit card.

"Rissy? What are you doing?"

I pulled on my black converse and fixed my hair in the mirror. I was wearing some jean capris and a pink and green plaid button up shirt. I looked back over at Rydel and said, "Come on! Lets walk to town!"

She looked confused and said, "Why?"

I rolled my eyes and said, "So we can get matching outfits for us and the boys! That way we'll look like an actual band."

She smiled and nodded, jumping up and pulling me out the door. On our way out the door, I shouted to mom and dad saying, "We're gonna walk to town and get some stuff."

My mom popped through the archway and said, "Alright, be careful. Do you have money dear?"

I nodded saying, "Yeah I have my credit card."

My dad then popped up next to her and said, "Keep it under budget, okay?"

I nodded and opened the door, only to be tackled into a hug by Riker.

"Geez, kid! You scared me!" I said returning the hug.

"Guess what! Guess what! Guess what!" He said over and over again.

I laughed and said, "Our band is performing at the Summer Music Festival next week!"

He pulled away from the hug and said, "Awe! How did you know that already?"

I pointed to Rydel and he glared at her mumbling, "Women..."

I laughed and said, "Come on! We're going to town to get matching outfits so we look professional."

He nodded and said, "Okay."

I turned around and shut the door. Looping my arm through Rydel's, we walked down the sidewalk and around the corner. We lived about five blocks away from a bunch of cute little shops and restaurants, so we usually walked everywhere we went. Rydel and I were chatting about our outfits and what we could pick out for the boys.

We decided that Rydel and I would wear our black and red tutus with a white t-shirt for me and a black one for Rydel. We would do our own hair and make up. We weren't sure what the boys could wear, so we were just going to wing it.

We reached one little vintage clothes shop called "Back in Time". When we moved here, my mom and I went into this store and I loved it instantly! The clothes were super cool and really cheap. We walked in and the bell above the door rung. A lady that worked here greeted us before saying that she'd be around if we needed help.

Riker was trailing behind Rydel and I the whole time. We were literally ripping clothes off racks and flinging them over our shoulders so Riker could catch them. After about five minutes, I looked over and laughed at Riker. You could just barely see the top of his head. I dragged him over to the fitting rooms and starting sorting out outfits. I picked the first one and handed it to him. He nodded and went into a dressing room to change. Rydel started sorting out more outfits while we brainstormed a set list.

"Well, we should definitely do 'When I Come Around' by Green Day, and 'Sk8er Boi' By Avril Lavigne. We could always go back to my house and look through all our CD's to find more songs. "

By that time Riker came back out in the first outfit and I quickly said, "Yeah, that sounds good."

I looked over and he was wearing a red button down shirt with pockets on the front and black suspenders with dark washed jeans and converse. I looked at it for a minute and told him to turn around. He did and I looked over to Rydel and said, "Well, what do you think?"

She looked over to me and said, "It's good, but it needs something else..."

I nodded in agreement and started looking through the pile of clothes we had. I picked out a black tie and vest and handed it to him saying, "Here. Take the suspenders off and put the tie and vest on."

He said "okay" and went back in to change.

We picked out the other outfits for Rocky and Ross then sat down. Riker came back out and the outfit looked way better. I jumped up from the chair I was sitting on and walked up to the mirror behind him. I looked his outfit over and said, "Do you have any red converse? They would look way better."

He nodded and I told him he could go put his regular clothes back on. He went in to change and threw the other clothes over the door. I caught them and gathered our stuff up to go pay. We paid and walked out of the store and back down the sidewalk. We were walking past the park when I heard someone whistle. I looked around and saw a group of really familiar looking boys. The one that whistled at me, or Rydel I wasn't sure, had spiky dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. They were definitely punk because they were wearing all black clothes and army boots. I think they may have even been wearing eyeliner. They were spray-painting designs on the skate ramp.

The boy started whistling again and pointed at me while he was talking to some of his friends. I felt Riker run up next to me and put a hand on my back motioning for me to move on. I started walking faster and when the group of boys were out of earshot I looked to him and said, "Who was that? They looked really familiar."

He looked a little angry and said, "That's Rodrick Carter, and they're the group of punk skater kids at our school. Apparently they have a band too, called "Paralyzed"."

I nodded and said, "Are they playing at the festival too?"

He nodded and we reached their house. We opened the door and walked inside. As we were taking our shoes off he turned to me and said, "They're jerks, Rissy. I don't want you hanging around them or anything. Especially since Rodrick seems to have a thing for you..."

I nodded, even though I wasn't too sure about it. I mean yeah, they looked like jerks, but how does he know if that Rodrick guy likes me? And, I'm not so sure he can tell me whom I can hang out with! He doesn't own me! I quickly wiped that thought out of my head. Was I really thinking that Riker was like that?

He was probably just looking out for me. And besides, he said he loved me. We also said we'd wait though. Does that mean that we can't see other people?

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see a concerned Rydel. "Are you alright? I can basically see the wheels turning in your head." She said with a laugh.

I shook my head, as if I was clearing my thoughts and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about songs to sing."

She nodded and grabbed some bags and headed down stairs. Rocky, Ross, Ryland, Mark, Stormie, and Riker were all sitting around talking about what we were going to do for the festival. I set the bags down on the arm of the sectional and said, "Rocky, Ross, we decided that we wanted to match for the show so we got you some outfits."

They jumped up and started picking out what they wanted. Rocky picked a black button down shirt with a red tie and a fedora, so he would match me. Ross picked out a red t-shirt with a black jacket. They went to try them on, and I must say, they looked adorably cute.

"We are not cute!" They chorused at the same time.

Did I say adorably cute out loud? "Yes, you did, and before you ask, yes. You said that out loud too." Riker said.

I looked around the room and breathed saying, "Wow, I must not be myself today..."

Everyone laughed and we grabbed our gear to start playing. I started out just singing.

**Yes two in one! Woohoo! I'm on a roll today! I figured I'd upload today as well to make up for the last couple of weeks. If I have time, I'll upload tomorrow too! Thank you all for your support!**

**And just a reminder, I'm not the author of this lovely story. R5inmysoul (Lizzie) is. I just edit stuff:)**

**Lots of love!**

**-Lora & Lizzie  
**


	11. Just Fun

**Littleton Colorado, July 31****st**** 2005**

**Sunday, 6:27 p.m.**

**Rydel's P.O.V.**

We just started brainstorming ideas and we got a set list of a couple of songs set up. Iris would start just singing, "Sk8er Boi" with me in background vocals. Then, Rocky and Ross would sing "When I Come Around" while still playing their guitars. I would have a solo singing; "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benatar, while Iris and Rocky would play battle up on stage with the guitar solo. Riker and Iris would then switch spots and Iris would play drums while Riker sings "Disease" by Matchbox 20, while playing bass. Then, for our last song, we've decided that Iris and Riker should do a duet, but we can't decide what song they should do.

"Well, definitely something acoustic." Riker said.

We all nodded and I went over to our cabinet under the T.V. and started pulling out all of our CDs, looking for a song.

"Okay, do you want an acoustic love song? Or something else?" I looked up and over to Iris, who was staring at Riker. Everyone else was quiet and the atmosphere was super awkward.

After a minute or two, who knows how long, Iris answered saying, "I guess it doesn't matter."

Everyone instantly relaxed and Rocky joined me to start looking through CDs. It was about six thirty now and mom went up stairs to order a pizza for dinner and invite April and Martin over. She came back down after ten minutes with them and said, "Okay, the pizza will be here in 30 minutes."

We all chorused our "okay" and "Thanks" and continued looking through songs. Every once in a while, I would look up to Iris, and find her either staring at Riker or staring off into space. I looked over to Riker and discreetly caught his attention. He perked up and I motioned over to Iris who was spacing out again. He looked over at her, then back to me and nodded.

He stood up and said, "Hey, I have more CDs in my room. Iris, you want to come look through them?"

After she didn't nudge or respond he went over and nudged her shoulder repeatedly saying, "Iris? Iris? _Hello_?"

She finally snapped out of it with a jump and a small scream. We all laughed and she looked around and said, "What'd I miss?"

Riker just chuckled and said, "Come on, weirdo. We'll go look through the CDs in my room."

She stood up with a defensive look on her face, and as they were walking up the stairs I could hear her say, "I may be a weirdo, but I'm your weirdo."

We all laughed quietly and continued looking through songs. This was going to be a long week...

**Riker's P.O.V.**

I led her upstairs to my room and opened the door. I shared it with Rocky, so it had two twin beds, one with blue blankets for me and one with green blankets for Rocky. The walls were dark blue and all the other furniture was just a brown wood color. I turned on the light and went over to my desk and started pulling out all my CDs while Iris plopped down onto Rocky's bed and put a pillow under her head. She was just staring at the floor, and was obviously lost in thought. I could basically see the wheels turning in her head and knew something was wrong. So I grabbed a stack of CDs and sat on the floor, underneath her head. I handed her a couple CD cases and she flipped over on her back and started looking through them.

She started laughing and I looked up and said, "What?", while laughing a little myself.

I couldn't help it, her laugh was contagious. She handed me my Goo Goo Dolls CD that I had and said, "We should sing "Iris". That would be sick."

I nodded and said, "I've never heard it. I've only listened to one or two songs on here, and I don't know how to play it."

She nodded and said, "It's a good song. You should listen to it sometime."

I nodded, not really paying attention as I stuck it with my pile of other CDs and looked over my NSYNC CDs. "It doesn't have to be a love song, does it?" I asked after a while.

"No, it doesn't have to be." She answered, maybe a little to quickly. I heard her sigh quietly.

I looked up to her and said, "What's the matter, Iris?"

She flipped back over on her stomach and stared at me, as if she was contemplating whether she should tell me or not. I decided to give her some encouragement and said, "You know you can tell me anything."

She nodded a little and said, "Promise you won't get mad?"

I laughed a little and said, "Yes, I promise I won't get mad."

She held out her pinkie and I locked it with mine. She flipped back over onto her back and said, "Well, its kind of about what happened today... at the park."

I nodded even though my insides were churning, I really didn't want to talk about that. I got up and sat down on my bed, which was only a foot or so away from were she was lying on Rocky's bed. I took a deep breath and said, "What about it?"

She continued to look up at the light on the roof, obviously not caring that it's bad for your health, and said, "Well, it's probably nothing. But, how do you know that Rodrick kid was staring at me and not Rydel?"

I thought for a moment and said, "I don't know. But he's a grade above us and even though you and Delly are only a month or two apart, you do look a lot older than her, and you act a little older than her. So, it just makes more sense that he would be staring at you. Why?" I added after a moment.

She sighed again and said, "Why would he though? I'm really nothing special. Why do people like Gerald and Rodrick think I am?"

I smiled a little, she really didn't know. I decided to play with her a little and layed down on my back saying, "Yeah, I don't know why either."

She raised her head up and looked at me laughing saying, "Wow, thanks. My self esteem is through the roof now..."

I laughed and threw a pillow at her. It hit her square in the face and she shot up saying, "Did you just seriously, legitimately, hit me in the face with-" she held up the pillow"-this pillow?"

I sat up and said, in my best mysterious voice, "Perhaps..."

She held back her smile well and crossed her legs, while tapping her fingers together in front of her mouth. "Now, I can tell that you're thinking what I'm thinking. So before we start the most epic war ever, please, let me arm myself first."

Without another word, she got up and went to my closet, pulling out Rocky's red Darth Maul lightsaber, and my blue Luke Skywalker jedi lightsaber. She tossed the blue one to me and we quickly took our jedi stance. We clicked on our lightsabers and the battle begun. She deflected almost every attack I made at her, and got me at least five times. I turned the lights off so she couldn't see where I was. This made it much more fun.

I heard her say, "Riker? What happened to the lights?"

I didn't answer but I followed the sound of her voice and crept up right behind her. I flashed on my lightsaber and it made the little noise. She turned around and before she could even get her lightsaber turned on, I spun her around and held my lightsaber up to her neck. I got up close to her ear and whispered, "You give up?"

She shivered and I smirked. She slid her hand from my wrist to my shoulder, her other hand gripping onto my other shoulder. I shivered and she turned her head so her lips were just ghosting the skin under my ear. "Nope." She said popping the "P".

Before I could register what happened, or even prepare myself. She bent down and flipped me over her shoulder and onto my bed. She jumped up onto the bed with me and turned on her lightsaber, pointing it into my chest. "Any last words?" She asked, obviously trying to hold back her laughter from completely schooling me.

I smiled and said, "Still want to know what's so special about you?"

She laughed softly and collapsed down beside me. "I don't know how you did it. Thanks."

I rolled over on my side and hugged her saying, "For what?"

She hugged me back and stuck her head on my chest saying, "For making me feel better, for helping me smile, for always being there, for everything."

I kissed her head and said, "That's what I'm here for."

I felt her shift a little and get up saying, "We should go back down. We still need to find a song to sing. And I want pizza."

I laughed and got up, turning the light on and walking out the door.

**Iris's P.O.V.**

We went back downstairs and saw everyone eating pizza and watching a movie. Rydel was still over looking through CDs and her eyes were bloodshot. I grabbed a piece of pizza from the box and walked over and sat down beside her.

She yawned and looked up at me saying, "Did you figure one out yet?"

I noticed how bloodshot her eyes were. She stretched her neck and I said, "No, not yet. We'll figure something out. You look sore, go sit on the couch."

She nodded and sat on the couch in between my mom and Ryland. I started sorting through the CDs and narrowed the search down to a few songs. Mark came over after a little and sat down cross-legged on the floor.

"Did you find any yet?" He asked, helping me look.

I nodded slightly and said, "I think so, I narrowed it down to Time Of Your Life by Green Day, Yellow by Coldplay, Wonderwall by Oaisis, and I kind of wanted to do Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls, but I don't know how to play it..." I trailed off and he chuckled.

After a minute of searching, he spoke up saying, "We need to think of a name for your band, you and Riker are the oldest so you talk it over and meet me in my office in ten minutes."

I giggled at his professional tone and said, "Sir, yes sir!"

He smiled and got up and went out. I stood up to after a minute and walked over to the stairs tapping Riker on the shoulder on the way out. I ran up the steps and out the deck doors to their little play set outside. I sat down on one of the swings and I felt someone start to push me. I turned my head and saw Riker smiling at me.

I smiled back and said, "Your dad wants us to figure out a name for the band."

He nodded and said, "Okay, any ideas so far?"

I thought for a moment and said, "It has to be something cool." I looked back at him and he had his "thinking" face on.

After a moment he said, "What about R.I.?"

I laughed and said, "R.I.? What's that supposed to mean?"

He smiled and said, "Well, all our names start with R and yours starts with an I..."

I nodded in understandment and continued thinking. "What about Flashback?"

He nodded and said, "Yeah, that sounds pretty cool. Lets go with that."

We nodded and got up to go tell Mark our new name.

**Whatcha think?;) I personally liked the little Star Wars fight in there. Lizzie is pretty genius with her ideas … so I uploaded three chapters in two days! I hope that made up for my small hiatus. I should upload next week too:) **

**Lots of love!**

**-Lora & Lizzie**


	12. He's Gotta Keep Away From This Girl!

**Littleton Colorado, August 6th 2005**

**Saturday, 3:00 p.m.**

**Iris's P.O.V.**

We've been rehearsing like crazy all week and it was finally Saturday. Mark and my dad went early downtown to set up and pick up our band banner. It was pretty big and it was blue with black letters saying "Flashback". I was getting ready over at Rydel's house and we were currently in her room. I was already in my black and red tutu, black t-shirt with my red tie, and my black converse boots. Rydel was wearing her matching tutu, white tee with a black tie and her red converse. We wore matching make up, which was basically just red glittery eye shadow, mascara and lip-gloss. I was straightening Rydel's hair and putting it up into a high ponytail with her bangs pinned up making a little bump and some stray pieces hanging around her face. It didn't take very long and soon I was sitting in her styling chair. She first got out some red and black extensions and crimped them. She put them in and half crimped and half straightened my hair. We were finally done and I looked at the clock. It was three already and we were performing at five thirty. There weren't a lot of bands, but the ones that were playing were really good. Rodrick's band, "Paralyzed" was playing, and from what I've heard around town they're really good and loud. Then this band playing before us called, "Richocheyed", is more of an acoustic band, but are really good guitar players. To say I was nervous would be a complete understatement, I felt like throwing up! Like stomach dropped to my feet and I couldn't move, the butterflies in my stomach were fluttering wildly. It felt awful! I looked over at Rydel and she looked nervous too.

Just then Stormie came in and said, "Are you girls ready?" We nodded and grabbed our purses and headed downstairs. Riker and Rocky and Ross were already dressed and were jumping up and down with excitement. Ryland ran over and jumped into my arms.

I caught him and he started laughing saying, "Rissy, your gonna be a rock star!"

I laughed and put him down as he ran out the door with Ross and Rocky to the car. Rydel and Stormie walked out next with Rydel doing vocal warm-ups. I was staring at my shoes and felt Riker hug me tight. "Don't be nervous, Rissy. You'll do great. We all will."

I nodded into his shoulder and looked into his eyes. "We never did figure out what acoustic song we were gonna do."

He smiled one of his "million dollar" smiles and grabbed my hand saying, "Well, we'll just have to wing it then won't we?"

I laughed and said, "Yup. Hope I'm good at 'winging' things." He laughed and we walked out to the car.

**Riker's P.O.V.**

I knew Iris was nervous because she's always had a little stage fright, no matter how much she says she's over it. I quickly reassured her and we walked out to the van. We rode to the festival and the butterflies in my stomach gave me great adrenaline. I never get nervous when we perform; none of my brothers or sister does either. It's kind of hard to explain but performing feels like it's in my blood. I love the feeling that runs through me when I know that the music that I play makes people happy. I know acting and singing are my dreams, and I'll do anything to make that happen, as long as Iris can be with me. I was pulled out of my thoughts by the van stopping and everyone piling out. I got out and stretched. The midday was sun beating down on my face and warming up my whole battery. I walked over to the stage and saw dad and Martin setting up our microphones. I walked behind the stage and saw the DJ table. I walked over and looked at the set list. Rodrick's band goes on before us and everyone says they're really good. I felt a little queasy now. I knew Rodrick liked Iris for sure now and I know she's definitely confused.

**Rodrick's P.O.V.**

Our awesome band Paralyzed is playing tonight at this stupid festival thing and we were totally stoked. We were skateboarding down the sidewalks while our "manager" set things up over at the stage. I came to a quick stop at the end of the sidewalk as I saw a big white van park and the girl I saw over at the park.

"There she is dude! Is the bet still on or what?" My friend and fellow band member Ben said. When we were at the park I made a bet with my friends saying that I could get that girl to go out with me until that stupid little dance thing we have for 8, 9, and 10 grade students at the end of this next school year.

***Flashback***

"Yeah right, dude! That chick would never go out with you!" My friend Ben said as we were spray-painting the skate ramps.

I looked over and recognized her as the new chick that went to our school. She was a grade below me, and I thought honestly that she was kinda pretty, but she was such a loser! She spends all her time with that dirty blonde haired boy and his lame little family. Apparently, she can play the guitar and sing pretty well. But in all honesty, I just needed someone to go out with me to make that smoking hot Mckenzie chick notice me and get jealous. I heard around the school that Mckenzie hated this chick, so of course I'm going to ask her out!

"I can too! Bet you fifty bucks that I can get her to go out with me until that dance at the end of next school year!" I said, pointing over to her.

"Fifty bucks? You're on, I can buy a new amp with that!" Ben said. He shook my hand and the girl left.

"Alright you're on!"

*End of Flashback*

I smirked and fixed my hair a little. "The bet is still on, my friend. But I'm not going to ask her out right away. I'm going to make her want me first."

They smirked with me and I walked over to her.

**Iris's P.O.V.**

We were just hanging around and Riker and I were deciding which song we were going to do for our last song. I was in the middle of reading over some lyrics when I felt Riker tense up beside me. I looked up and saw him glaring straight ahead of him. I looked over and saw that Rodrick boy walking over to us. Riker put his arm around my shoulders protectively. Rodrick saw this and smirked even more before fully reaching us and extending his hand to me.

"Hi. I'm Rodrick, but you probably knew that already." He flipped the hair out of his eyes and I just stared. His hair was sort of long and a dark brown color. His eyes were also brown and he had full lips. I looked from his face to his hand for a minute.

Deciding I shouldn't be rude, I carefully reached out and just barely placed my hand in his. "Iris." I said quietly. I looked up at Riker and saw him with a mixture of anger, annoyance, and pain on his face.

I cleared my throat and yanked my hand away from his like it was on fire. "-And this is Riker, we're in the band that's playing after yours."

He kept the smirk and reached out to shake his hand, but Riker ignored it. I was shocked a little; Riker would never be so rude. He just retracted his hand and said, "Very cool. Um, so I guess I'll see you guys around. Have a great show."

I smiled and nodded and he walked away. I looked at Riker and saw his features soften. "What the heck was that Riker?"

He looked over at me and said, "What?"

I walked away and went to tune my guitar. He didn't follow me. Why? Whenever something was wrong with me or bothering me he wouldn't leave me alone until I told him. Has he stopped caring? Did me just talking to Rodrick make him that mad? Was he...jealous? My mind was racing at the speed of light as I was tuning my guitar and doing my vocal warm ups. Then out of nowhere, Riker came up to me and hugged me from behind, kissing my temple and whispered, "I'm sorry."

I smiled a little and turned my head to kiss his cheek. "We're not done discussing this." I whispered before wriggling out of his grasp and walked away.

**Riker's P.O.V.**

Why would she even introduce herself to that, that...that punk! Wow, punk? That's seriously the best I could think of to describe him? I am such a loser. I told her to stay away from him! But, he did kind of walk right up to us, I guess that's a little tough to get out of. I couldn't even describe the pain and sadness that I felt when I saw how he looked at her. First Gerald White now Rodrick Carter? Why can't everything just go my way for once? Everytime I feel like Iris could really, truly be mine, someone waltzes right in and suddenly I feel like competition. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't even notice him wanting to shake my hand. After he left I definitely calmed down a lot.

"What the heck, Riker?"

I jumped a little and looked over at Iris. "What?" I questioned.

She just turned around and walked away, probably to tune her guitar or something. I wanted to go after her, but my feet just wouldn't budge. I realized that in some situations that she gets herself into, it's better to just leave her alone to think things through.

I just sat on the curb and tried to process what happened myself when Martin sat down next to me on the curb. "Who was that, uh, interesting looking boy?"

I lifted my head out of my hands and said, "That's Rodrick Carter. His band is playing before ours."

He nodded and said, "Well, he was certainly trying to charm my daughter. I'm just glad that it was Iris he was talking to."

I shot my head up and over to him. "What? Why would you be happy that, that little punk was trying to charm Iris?" My voice rose a little at the end.

He just patted me on the back and said, "Calm down, son. I'm glad it was her because if he charmed any other girl they'd fall for him instantly. But not my Iris. She takes her time; study's the person, if you will. She's not one that could be charmed easily, and she sees through a fake exterior in an instant. She sees the inside, not the outside. She always tells me, 'its personality that counts. Everyone can change appearances but there is no changing the inner person.' " I smiled a little.

My heart warmed up at that, it was absolutely true. I sighed and said, "Well, she's mad at me for something. I don't know what though."

He laughed and said. "Say apologies now. Find out why you're apologizing later."

I laughed and got up. I stretched and slowly made my way over to her. She didn't see me coming, so I walked up behind her and hugged her. I kissed the side of her head and said, "I'm sorry."

She turned a little in my arms and kissed my cheek saying, "We're not done discussing this."

She, almost urgently, wiggling out of my arms and walking over to Rydel. That's it; I knew exactly what song we could sing.

**  
Rocky's P.O.V.**

It was now four, and the first band was up. They were more of an acoustic band and sang a lot of Jason Mraz, Plain White T-s, and some older stuff. They handled the guitar wonderfully and I silently wished in my head that I would be as good as that one day. I looked over to Iris and saw her going green. I walked over to her and handed her a bottle of lemonade saying, "Just breathe, Rissy. We don't have to go on for another hour and a half."

She nodded and took a drink of her lemonade and took several deep breaths. "Thanks Rocky." She said gratefully.

I nodded and patted her on the back. I saw what happened earlier with that Rodrick jerk, and I didn't like it one bit. We may not be blood related but I want to protect her like my sister and I can tell she does too. She doesn't treat me or Ryland or Ross like "Her best friend's siblings". She treats us like we're her friends too. I always think of her as my sister and I obviously trust her with my life. Gosh, I sound like a chick. I shook my head to clear my thoughts as the current band got off stage and Rodrick's band came on.

**Iris's P.O.V.**

After Richocheyed got off stage, Paralyzed got on. We went around front to watch better and, well, it was something. They were definitely heavy metal. They were so loud I had to plug my ears for half their set. I looked over at Rydel and she looked completely overwhelmed too. Ross and Rocky were covering their ears too, it was that loud. Smoke machines went off and some sparklers. They couldn't even sing! They were just screaming lyrics into the microphone! How did they even get to play here? I looked over to Riker and he was standing close to me covering his ears.

I tugged his hands away and had to scream, "How did they even get to play here? They're terrible!"

He barely heard me and screamed back, "I have no idea!"

The song ended, if you could call it a song, and Rodrick walked up to the mike from where he was currently sitting and playing drums. "What's up losers?" He shouted into the microphone. "This is our last song-," Everyone cheered for that, "-And I would like to dedicate it to this special little lady in the front." He said pointing to, oh no, no, no, no, no! He was pointing to, me. My eyes widened and Riker looked furious. He pulled me into him protectively, and Rocky stood in front of me and Ross and Rydel on my sides. Just when I think things couldn't get worse, they started playing. I immediately recognized the beginning instrumental to "Are you gonna be my girl?" By Jet. My stomach dropped to my butt and I felt like throwing up. He cleared his throat and walked up to the mike starting things off with another guitar player by his side.

_Well it's a 1, 2, 3_

_Take my hand and come with me _

_Because you look so fine and I really wanna make you mine. _

_I say you look so fine and I really wanna make you mine._

He wasn't bad, but it was just so blunt and awkward. He played guitar a little bit and started singing again.

_4, 5, 6 come on and get your kicks. _

_Now you don't need money, when you look like that. Do ya honey?_

_Big, black boots. Long brown hair. She's so sweet with her "Get back" stare! _

_Well, I can see, you home with me._

_But you were with another man! Yeah!_

Oh snap. He did not just say that! I looked over to Riker and, if it was possible, he looked even angrier than last time. I looked up at Rodrick and he winked and smirked at me. I should have been disgusted, but the tension was just so awkward, I looked down and blinked back a few tears. I never did do well in tense or awkward situations. I looked over to my mom and Stormie and they looked just as confused and tense as I was. I tugged on Riker's hand and he looked down at me.

"Can we leave?" I mouthed since; the music was too loud for him to hear me.

He nodded and put his arm around my shoulders comfortingly as he lead me through the crowd, and to where mom, dad, Ryland, Stormie, and Mark were sitting backstage. Rydel and Ross followed me, and Rocky came up and gave me a hug. Riker stepped back as I threw my arms around Rocky and tried to calm down. The song finally finished and Rocky let go of me as Rydel stood by my side. The band came off stage and Rodrick tried to walk to me but Ross and Rocky stood in front of me, blocking his way. No tears fell from my eyes, but boy was I mad. He smirked again, and I would just do anything to slap it off of him, but not while my parents and all these people were around. So instead, I did something that I knew would get him to leave me alone. I slipped my arms around Riker's waist, and he laid his on top of my shoulders. Rodrick's smirk dropped and he walked away looking like a kicked puppy. I smirked and released my arms from Riker to get my guitar on my shoulders. I started humming to get my vocals warmed up. I took a big drink of ice-cold water and headed to the stage just as Rydel, Rocky, Ross, and Riker walked up too. We ran on stage just as the announcer finished introducing us. I made my way over to the mike and introduced myself. "Hey guys, I'm Iris, this little brunette to my right here is Rocky, the little blondie to my left is Ross, the freak in the back playing drums is Riker-" He did a comedy beat with the drums and everyone laughed. "-And on keyboard is the amazing Rydel!"

Everyone cheered and we started off. Riker started the drums while Rocky, Ross, and I played guitars with me playing bass. Rydel didn't really have a lot of keyboard in the song so she did backup vocals for me. Everyone cheered when they recognized the tune and I sang.

_He was a boy, she was a girl. Can I make it any more obvious?_

_He was a punk, she did ballet. What more can I say? He wanted her_

_And she'd never tell, but secretly she wanted him as well. But all of her friends_

_Stuck up their nose, they had a problem with his baggy clothes. _

_She has a pretty face but her head was up in space. She needed to come back down to Earth._

Rocky, and Ross, and I jammed out to the chorus while Rydel sang back up. I flipped the hair out of my face and slung my bass around my back for the next line.

_Five years from now, she sits at home. Feeding the baby, she's all-alone. _

_She turns on T.V. Guess who she sees? Sk8er Boi rocking up MTV_

_She calls up her friends, they already know. And they've all got tickets_

_to see his show. She tags along, and stands in the crowd._

_Looks up at the man that she turned down. _

I was singing and playing during the chorus and pointed over to Rocky when the line, "slamming on his guitar." came on. Everyone was laughing and jumping around and mouthing the lyrics. I loved the feeling that went through my veins. Playing the guitar solo felt really well and I let Rydel take the bridge.

_Sorry girl but you missed out. Well tough luck, that boy's mine now!_

_We are more than just good friends; this is how the story ends. Too bad_ _that you couldn't see, see the man that boy could be. There is more than _meets_ the eye. I see the soul that is inside. _

I finished playing and set my bass aside, before going back up to the mike and hoping I could hit the notes.

_He's just a boy, and I'm just a girl. Can I make it any more obvious? We __are in love, haven't you heard? How we rocked each other's world!_

I nailed it and everyone started cheering and screaming louder than possible. I looked back to Riker and his grin could light up the world. I knew this is what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. I knew he was going to do it and nothing would stop him. He had the talents and the guts and him and the rest of them would be playing shows and selling out arenas in no time. The only problem was, would I be there with him? Things are going to change as we get older, and playing and being famous is all good and well, but I don't know if I could ever take the famous life.

**  
Riker's P.O.V.**

After Iris and Rydel sang Sk8er Boi, the crowd was really pumped up and excited. I couldn't wait until I would be doing this professionally with my brothers and sister, maybe even Iris. We took a short break to get some water and Rocky and Ross started up playing "When I Come Around" by Green Day. Iris started up with the bass and Rocky started to sing.

_I heard you crying loud. All the way across town._

_but you've been searching for that someone, and_

_it's me out on the prowl. As you sit around feeling_

_sorry for yourself..._

I zoned out as I stared at Iris while she was playing. I subconsciously kept the beat up with my drums as I stared at her. She had so much talent. I could see how Rodrick and Gerald fell for her, I fell for her just like them. I can't stand the thought of her being with someone else but me. She's funny, genuinely funny, she's so fun to be around, and makes everyone feel like family. She has natural beauty; she doesn't need to cover up her face with the entire make up some girls put on. She is exactly what I always pictured the love of my life would be.

I zoned out as the song finished. Rydel went from behind the keyboard to the middle mike and Iris and Ross switched instruments so her and Rocky would be playing guitar while Ross played bass. Ross can't really play bass all that well, but I taught him how to play for this one song. Iris and Rocky started strumming while I was playing the basic beat for the song, trying to play louder than usual so Ross can really lock in the bass. Rocky and Iris were play battling each other and trying to outdo each other on stage playing guitar and everyone was laughing and jumping around and smiling when they recognized the tune of the song. I smiled when Rydel cleared her throat and started to sing.

_Well, you're a real tough cookie, with a long history_

_of breaking little hearts like the one in me. That's okay_

_lets see how you do it. Put up your dukes, lets get down_

_to it._

Iris stepped up to the mike to sing back up and their voices complimented each other beautifully.

_Hit me with your best shot! Why don't ya hit me _

_with your best shot? Hit me with your best shot!_

_Fire away!_

_You come on with your come on's you don't fight fair_.

_Well, that's okay, see if I care. _

_Knock me down its all in vain._

_I get right back, on my feet again. _

_Hit me with your best shot! Why don't ya hit me_

_with your best shot? Hit me with your best shot!_

_Fire away!_

The guitar solo came on and everyone was staring with wide eyes at how good Iris and Rocky were. They were playing like professionals, and even Rodrick looked awestruck. She was too good for him, and he was a jerk. He'd only hurt her. Rydel was dancing really well during the instrumental and everyone loved her. She ran back to the mike just in time and starting singing the last verse before the big finale.

_Well you're the real tough cookie, with a long history_

_of breaking little hearts like the one in me. Before_

_I put another notch, in my lipstick case. You better_

_make sure you put me in my place!_

I stopped playing by now and everyone was clapping in rhythm to the missing beat. Iris and Rocky were the only ones playing now and we all smiled at how well the crowd responded to us.

_Hit me with your best shot! Come on!_

_Hit me with your best shot! Fire away!_

_Hit me with your best shot! Why don't ya _

_hit me with your best shot? Hit me with your_

_best shot! Fire away! Fire away!_

The final note came on and we all held our breath as Rydel held the last note perfectly. Everyone cheered and was screaming and jumping up and down and calling our names as the song ended. We took a longer break so we could figure out how we're going to set up our instruments for my song. I was singing "Disease" by Matchbox 20 and this song was a little more rock and we decided that Iris would play drums while Rocky and Ross played guitar and I played bass. We came back on and everyone cheered when I stepped up to the mike. I looked back to Iris and she winked at me before Rocky started playing.

**  
Iris's P.O.V.**

I held my breath as Rocky started playing the beginning instrumental. It was really quite impressive at how good he really was for his age. I've never really heard Riker sing and I got goose bumps just waiting. When he opened his lips to sing, my heart skipped fifty beats, while I played it on my drums. His voice was rich, and deep, and velvety smooth. I started swooning and my eyes went wide as I tried to contain my fan girl squeals. I glanced over to Rydel; only to find out she's been staring at me trying hard not to laugh, which she was failing at. I blushed realizing I was "caught" and ducked my head down to continue playing.

_Feels like you made a mistake. You made somebody's heartbreak._

_But now I have to let you go, I have to let you go. _

We burst out with all the energy we had playing like our lives depended on it.

_You left a stain on everyone of my good days. But I_

_am stronger than you know. I have to let you go._

_No one's ever turned you over, no one's tried, to ever let _

_you down. Beautiful girl, bless your heart._

_I got a disease, deep inside me. Makes me, feel uneasy, baby._

_I can't live without you, tell me, what am I suppose' to do about it?_

_Keep your distance from me. Don't pay no attention to me! I _

_got a disease!_

I've always thought he looked nice all the time, but right now. How he was putting everything he had into singing and the way he was swaying to the beat, was overwhelmingly hot. My cheeks were probably so red, that I looked like a tomato. His voice would crack a little when he went to sing a new line and, woah, his voice was so much deeper when he sang, it was hot! I saw a lot of girls in the front row with red cheeks, screaming his name and reaching up to touch his hands. I didn't even have to see his face to know he was smirking when he returned the favor, all the girls screaming with tears in their eyes as he did so. I knew after tonight his ego would have been blown up huge. I couldn't wait to hear all the comments about "How the ladies love him" and what not. I burst out laughing in my head and barely kept it together until the final note rang out. Everyone was going wild and we ran off stage for a break. I was last off and Riker turned around just in time to catch me when I leapt from the last step to his arms.

"Woah, what was that for?" he questioned while laughing.

I didn't even try to conceal my fan girl squeals as I answered shouting, "That was the coolest thing ever!"

He laughed and spun me around as I was still fan girling, "I can't believe I've never heard you sing like that before! You just blew my mind!"

We were laughing and drinking water when Rocky and Ross came over and said, "Yeah, what about us? Riker's not the only one on stage ya know!"

I laughed and hugged them both tight saying, "I shouldn't even need to compliment you guys, and you know you two are the best guitar players ever in history!"

They laughed and Ross had the smuggest look on his face that was completely adorable. They both crossed their arms in front of their chest smugly and walked, well more like strutted, away. I laughed and Rydel came up to give me a hug and hand me my acoustic guitar saying, "You'll be awesome Rissy, Riker already told me what song he wanted to sing with you."

I hugged her back, feeling the butterflies tickle my stomach at the thought of winging it onstage. I slung my guitar on and walked over to the stairs, waiting for Riker. He came over with his black acoustic guitar and held my hand out onstage. I heard a few scattered "awes" and blushed madly. We took a seat on the two stools that were placed there for us and noticed we would be sharing the microphone that was sat in between. I took a few deep breaths as Riker quickly introduced us saying, "Hey guys, I'm Riker and this beautiful girl beside me is Iris. This is our last song of the night and we hope you enjoy it."

I blushed when he called me "beautiful" and waited for him to start strumming. I immediately recognized the song as "Yellow" by Coldplay and smiled as he started to sing, and I picked up strumming.

_Look at the stars, look how they shine for you. And everything_

_you do, yeah, they were all yellow. I came along, I wrote a song_

_for you, and all the things you do, and it was called "Yellow"_

I smiled and joined him on the next line, our voices meant to be accompanied by the other...

We just continued to sing. And it almost seemed too amazing to be real.

I smiled as he let me sing the next verse, my voice echoing through the microphone and filling the room

_I swam across; I jumped across, for you. Oh what a thing to do, Cause you were all yellow._

_I drew a line, I drew a line for you, Oh what a thing to do and it was all yellow..._

I wasn't consciously singing anymore, I knew I was singing the words with him and playing still, but my eyes were deep in his, and I suddenly remembered what this song was about, it wasn't just a song, it was a love song, a song about how this boy is scared of how much he loves this girl, and tells her in this song. It was about love, plain unselfish love, just love that is there, and always will be there. My eyes misted up as he sang the last notes of the song and we got off stage. I don't even remember hearing the crowd claps for us, I just watched as their hands exploded into movements of clapping. My mind was a blur and dazed. I walked around backstage putting my bass and my stuff away, until mom, dad, Stormie and Mark all came up and gave each of us a different colored wrist band that granted unlimited access to everything at the fair. I smiled and put my yellow one on, how ironic. We all scattered off with promises to meet back in three hours. I don't know how or why, but I was walking alone, aimlessly passing booths and rides.

People smiled at me from recognition onstage, and congratulated me on our performance and telling me how good we were. I gave them all a hug politely with a "Thank You" or a "How sweet!" before walking off on my own. I met up with Rocky and we rode a couple roller coasters together. I saw Ross and Rydel and played a few carnival games, winning Ross a stuffed bear, and continued to walk off on my own. My mind was blank as I walked around and decided that I wanted to go on the Ferris wheel. I felt a hand grasp my own and looked up to see Riker smiling down at me. I smiled back as we headed for the Ferris wheel and showed the man our wristbands before being seated in the small blue cart. It started moving and I quickly grasped the handle bar, only for Riker's hand to be grasped over mine. We both looked down at our hands and were wondering whether to move them or not until I took his arm and laid it around my shoulders so I could snuggle into him. I heard him laugh a little and kiss the top of my head. I smiled and waited until the cart got to the very top before I looked out at the fairgrounds. Lights twinkled and sparkled everywhere and you could faintly hear fair music playing. There was a slight breeze and it whipped my hair around my face and cooled off the hot summer air. I rested my head back on his shoulder and intertwined our fingers together. There was no talking, we just wanted to enjoy each other's company and remember this moment for as long as we lived. We finally got off the ride and he pulled me over to some carnival games.

He ended up winning me a stuffed penguin and I smiled as we headed back over to the car. After the quiet car ride back we got out of the van and I went in the house and up the stairs to my bedroom. I changed into my pajamas and fell asleep; cuddling the penguin I named "Yellow".

**Whelp that was a long chapter! I'm currently writing this at school during study hall. Today is the last real school day before finals and here I am telling my teacher's I'm studying when I'm really writing R5 fanfictions! Anyways, so cool story, for choir we have finals and I did mine early. We were supposed to pick five or more people and write songs that describe and influence them. We could only pick two celebrities and I picked Riker and Rocky. For Riker. I picked Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5 and for Rocky I picked The Man That Can't Be Moved by The Script. My choir teacher wrote a note back and it said:**

"**Lora, very nice writing! Because of your paper, I looked up R5 on the Internet and listened to their music. I liked it and can certainly see why you like them, or love them too!"**

**I just thought it was a very cute note. I'm going to see them again when they come to Aurora in August! I lived an hour away from there! I'll update when I can!**

**Lots of love!**

**-Lora & Lizzie**


	13. Rule The School!

**Littleton Colorado, August 8****th**** 2005**

**Monday, 7:15 a.m.**

**Iris's P.O.V  
**

Well, today was the first day of high school. It was kind of sad that I couldn't be with Rydel, Rocky, or Ross. But at least I had Riker. I got up extra early and put on a nice outfit that consisted of jeans, converse, and a white blouse with a blue sweater over it. I curled my hair and pinned some of it back and put very light, eye make up on. Might as well dress up for the first day, because after this week, I probably won't be putting much effort into my appearance. I met up with Rydel, Riker, Rocky, Ross and now Ryland at their mailbox and we walked to their school together. The high school was only a couple blocks from the middle school. Ryland was jumping up and down in excitement and Rydel was sporting a new tutu and Hello Kitty shirt, everything was right with the world. Before Riker and I walked to the high school, Rydel took Ryland to the office to get his fourth grade schedule.

I gave Ross and Rocky a quick hug and they went off to get their schedules too.

Riker and I started walking over too the high school, ad I had to admit that I was a bit nervous. The high school seemed pretty large but I remembered that there were people from three different middle schools, including ours, starting as freshman. Riker and I walked through the different booths set up outside the office to get our schedules and locker combinations. I said hello to the secretary, named Nancy and she handed me my new schedule. I looked it over and noticed I would have History, Science, Gym, Math, Lunch, then Band Class and Social Studies.

I walked to locker and Riker caught up with me. They gave us and extra ten minutes the first day of school to get situated, so I started putting up some new photos that we took of everyone over the summer. There was a really cool picture Mark took of us on stage, Rocky and I were back to back playing guitar and Rydel was dancing with the mike in the middle of the stage. I put that one up in the middle, and just as I was getting ready to put another one of me and Riker up, a hand stuck one up of... Rodrick and his band?

I turned around and saw Rodrick leaning against the locker next to mine, smirking. Geez, I thought once I started high school, I would be able to get away from him.

"Hope you like it. I took it especially for you." He winked and walked away, leaving me speechless, in a grossed out kind of way...

I turned back to my locker, and saw Riker staring a death glare at the picture. If eyes could set fire to anything, my locker would have burst into flames by now. I frowned and carefully plucked the picture of my locker, violently ripped it up, and carefully stuck it in the garbage can. Riker smirked at my actions and flung an arm around my shoulder mumbling, "That's my girl."

I laughed as Mckenzie, Brittany, and Ashley walked by. We can't get away from anyone! Mckenzie glared at Riker and me together, and as she walked past us, knocked some poor new girl to the ground, and her books flew everywhere. I frowned and walked over, picking her books up along the way. She looked up as I handed her, her books. She had dark brown hair but light brown bangs, and green eyes. I helped her up and stuck her books back in her bag before giving it to her.

"Thanks." She said, "I'm Lora."

She stuck her hand out, which I promptly shook and said, "Iris. Don't worry about Mckenzie and the others, just lay low and they won't bother you anymore."

She smiled and said, "Okay, thanks Iris." And headed off to class.

**Riker's P.O.V.**

Well, Rodrick was getting even more on my nerves right now. It's not like I have a right to fight for Iris, we're not even dating! So, I'm just going to have to trust her, and step back, let her make her own decisions. Whatever, or whoever, she decides on I'll just have to live with. It did make me a bit happy though when she ripped up that picture, just a bit though...

"Hey! Let me see your schedule! Maybe we have some classes together!" Iris said excitedly as she reached into my binder for my schedule.

She grabbed it and compared the two. "Well, we have lunch together, and Math, and History, and Gym."

She sounded kind of disappointed at the end and I frowned saying, "So, that means we have Science, Social Studies and Band Class apart. That's not so bad."

We still had four minutes before class, so we went and sat in the library. It was smaller than the one at the middle school, but still comfortable nonetheless. We sat down on the desk chairs and, well, just talked about stuff.

"Do you think they'll give us homework?" Iris asked me.

"Probably not. They never give us homework on the first day of school." I answered, "But we should do something afterwards. Something fun and crazy!" I exclaimed.

Iris nodded eagerly and the bell rang. Iris and I walked to our first class together. Mine was Science, and hers was Social Studies.

"We'll talk about it at lunch okay?" She asked as we parted ways to go to our classes. I nodded and headed into my first class.

I walked in and was greeted by a middle-aged lady that had blonde hair in a high ponytail, hazel eyes, and she was tall. She had on a light brown turtleneck and a purple flower pattern skirt that reached her knees and caramel brown boots that had a slight heel and came to her half calf. She smiled and looked at her clipboard saying, "You're Mr. Lynch, if I'm correct? I'm Mrs. Lovett."

I smiled and nodded and she said, "Take a seat anywhere."

I nodded and looked around the classroom. Oh crap, well, Mckenzie and her gossip gang was in there, and the only seat left was right in front of her. I swallowed and quickly walked over to the seat and set my stuff down. Before I knew it, annoying little girl giggles filled my ears along with hushed whispers. I rolled my eyes and slouched down in my seat, rubbing my temples. God, I wish Iris were here right now.

We were in the middle of a lecture about something I wasn't really paying attention too, science wasn't my best subject, when a carefully folded up note landed on my desk. It had glittery hearts all over it and it had my name on the front. I rolled my eyes and opened it.

Hey cutie! So, I was thinking, maybe you could take me out this weekend for a date! -Mckenzie

I rolled my eyes and crumpled the note up, not even bothering to answer. I heard a few small gasps behind me and smiled. Before I knew it science was over and I went on to my next subject, gym. Well, I had it with Iris, so I guess that's good! I met her in the hallway and he walked there together. We entered the gym and everyone had to get new uniforms. The guys were black basketball shorts and blue muscle shirts, while the girls where blue shorts that went above their knees and a black tank top. We all got the correct sizes and went into the bathroom to change. We got out after five minutes and the coach blew her whistle saying, "Alright! Everybody pair up! Boys with Boys and Girls with Girls! We're gonna do a little volleyball practice before a game!"

I got paired up with a guy who's name I remembered to be Josh, and Iris got paired up with ... oh no. I saw Mckenzie force her to be partners while Ashley and Brittany paired up close by. Things were going to get interesting...

**Iris's P.O.V.**

Shoot! Abort! Abort mission! There I was, in gym class, minding my own business, looking for a partner for volleyball and what not, when Mckenzie ambushed me into being her partner. I looked over to Riker real quick and we sent the same telepathical message saying, "Oh Crap." and "Prepare for anything." We started off when Mckenzie served the ball to me and I knocked it back. After about five times of that she caught the ball and got up in my face.

"Look, I like Riker. I want Riker. Stay away from Riker!" She shrieked in my face.

I got right back into her face and said, "Oh forget you, Mckenzie. Riker is my best friend and does not like you! Why don't you just leave him alone?"

She smirked and stepped back when the coach blew her whistle. As we were lining up for teams, she walked past me and said, "Girl, if I left what I wanted alone, I wouldn't be this popular would I?"

The coach picked Josh and Ashley for team captains. I turned to McKenzie and said, "You can't have everything you want McKenzie!"

She smirked as Ashley picked her and said, as she was passing me, "Watch me."

That's it, game on! I got my game face on as Josh picked me and Ashley picked ... Riker? I gulped and we looked at each other. Riker noticed my game face and secretly smirked. The coach blew her whistle and put some music on, "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne. Perfect. We all high fived and lined up.

Hey! Hey! You! You! I don't like your Girlfriend!  
No Way! No Way! I think you need a new one!  
Hey! Hey! You! You! I could be your Girlfriend!

Josh threw the ball in the air and served it right to Brittany, who squealed and ran for her life. Everyone on my team silently snickered as the ball got tossed back to Josh and he served again. I was in the front row with Mckenzie on the other side of the net.

Hey! Hey! You You!  
I know that you like me!  
No way, no way!  
You know it's not a secret!  
Hey! Hey! You! You!  
I want to be your Girlfriend!

The ball volleyed on the other side a few times before it got to Mckenzie and she spiked it on me. If I hadn't ducked, she would have hit me. Alright. That's it! I am mad now! Riker served the ball to me from the other side and I hit it back to a girl on my side. She set Josh up and he scored over the net. We rotated and it was my turn to serve. Mckenzie smirked and ran over, giving Riker a high five, which he just barely returned. Steam felt like it was pouring out of my ears now. I waited until everyone was ready, excluding McKenzie because she just kept oogling at Riker, and hit the ball, aiming directly at McKenzie.

Bam! The ball bounced off her face and she fell to the floor, clutching a bloody nose.

"My nose! She broke my nose!" She kept squealing as everyone gathered around her and the coach ran over to help her up. "Now, McKenzie accidents happen! There's no need to blame Iris!" The coach scolded.

McKenzie was crying now, but of course all she wanted was sympathy. Ashley and Brittany took her to the nurse and the coach called game over. We headed to the locker rooms and as soon as I entered everyone cheered. Everyone patted me on the back. Everyone basically... partied.

We all changed and walked out. Mckenzie came out of the office with a big white bandage on her nose and under her eyes were all bruised. She looked terrible. Booyah! Riker and I smirked at each other and went off to lunch. Riker saved me a seat and when we sat down the topic was obviously McKenzie.

"I heard she's going to sue."

"Really? Did you see how bad she looked?"

"Iris, you didn't mean to hit her right?"

I looked up to the girl who asked, and said, "No. Of course not!"

Wow, I was great at masking my sarcasm! Riker nudged me under the table and we kept nudging each other until lunch was over and we had to go back to class

**Iris's P.O.V.**

After lunch, Riker and I had to go our seperate ways again. I had science, which meant he had social studies. I walked in and was greeted by a nice looking mid-aged woman, who had blonde hair, lighter than Riker's dirty blonde, and was in a high ponytail with hazel eyes.  
"Hello! I'm Mrs. Lovett. I'll be your new teacher this year for science. And your name is?"

I shook her hand gently and said, "Iris. Iris Acker."

She smiled and motioned me to take a seat anywhere. I was walking towards the back when I noticed a piece of paper crumbled up on a desk.

I set my stuff down in the little basket underneath the desk and un-crumbled the paper. It had Mckenzie's glittery pink pen ink on the front and said, "To:Riker." So, Riker was sitting here? My curiosity got the best of me and I read the note.

Bad idea. I instantly saw red and ripped it up, jogging up to the front to throw it away, before our classes started. Mrs. Lovett started the assignments and it was all incredibly easy. I was so ahead already in science that I was drifting in and out of consciousness. My mind kept wandering off to why Riker hadn't answered Mckenzie, as far as I know. He could have told her "yes" instead of passing notes, or he could have passed a new note that said, "yes." I felt the jealousy boil up into my stomach and make its way to my heart, creating burning flames that felt like heartburn.

Science flew by in a blur and I was off onto my next subject, history with Riker. We lined up outside the doorway and waited for the current class to end. We had a few minutes to talk, so I decided to ask him about the note.

"Riker? Why did Mckenzie ask you out?"

His eyes bugged out of his head and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I didn't answer her, I figured she would know by now it was an obvious no."

I smiled a little and said, "Well, I found the note she sent you in Science. I was just curious I guess."

He smirked and nudged my arm saying, "Curious or jealous?" I nudged him in the stomach with my elbow and said, "Don't get so full of yourself, Lynch." He chuckled behind me and the bell rang for us to go into history.

**Riker's P.O.V.**

After History, Iris and I left to different classes again. I had band class, and she had English. I walked in and was greeted by our teacher last year, Mr. Douglas.

"Hey!" He said greeting me with a high five. "If it isn't the rock star from last year!"

I laughed as I remembered when Iris and I sang Green Day. "Hey Mr. Douglas! Aren't you supposed to be at the middle school?"

He smiled. "Actually, I got transferred over to the high school this year. Another teacher took my place."

I nodded and took a seat. About half of the class was mainly for introductions to music and stuff, and then he showed us a video of my siblings, Iris, and me at the summer festival. Apparently he was there and thought we were really good.

I watched the tape whisfully as Iris sang and danced around onstage. I laughed a little at her and Rocky play fighting onstage. Then when my part came up, almost every girl in the room did a not-so-silent gasp. I chuckled a little and blushed, maybe I was really good! I could've sworn I heard a couple girls' say, "Dang, he looks really hot!"

After the video Mr. Douglas said, "And that was Littleton's own Flashback! I'm sure you already know who's in the band though." He threw a discreet wink at me and the rest of the class went by excrutiatingly slow.

**Iris's P.O.V.**

English was extremely easy. The teacher was this really old lady, like no joke, at least in her eighties. She gave us an assignment, which all we had to do was read the book, "Tom Sawyer" and analyze it. Most kids just copied the summary on the back of the book. But I actually enjoy reading, so I was totally engrossed in the book. The bell rang and we headed to our final subject. Mine was math with Riker.

"Hey!" He greeted me while we stood in line outside the classroom.

"Hey, how was band class?" I asked, as the line started moving into the classroom.

"Slow, yet fun. They showed our video from the festival." My eyes bugged out of my head and he smiled bright. I was about to respond when we were silenced by the most, mean teacher in the whole school.

"Alright, everyone quiet down! I will assign seats by order of last names." She yelled. Her name was Mrs. Oliver. She was middle aged, maybe closer to her fifties. She was small and had black hair that was tied onto a tight bun on the top of her head. She had piercing green eyes and I swore I saw fire in them.

I looked over at Riker and noticed he was nervous. My last name started with "A" and his started to "L". Oh yeah, we'd be seperated. By the time she was done seating us, I was in the first seat in the first row, and he was in the last seat if the last row. We were diagonal from each other. I couldn't even look back at him without the teacher writing me up. I kept my eyes firmly on the front of the classroom the whole time.

**Riker's P.O.V.**

Mrs. Oliver had us working non-stop the whole class. The end of my pencil lead literally started smoking and my hand was getting severe cramps. The bell rang signaling the end of the day and I could've sworn I heard a collective sigh of relief from everyone in the classroom. Everyone packed up and Iris basically ran out of the classroom. I tried to catch up with her but she ended up beating me to our lockers. When I caught up to her she was struggling to get her locker open.

"Why so rushed? Did you not enjoy watching Mrs. Oliver glare at everyone with fire coming out of her eyes all class period?" I joked as I slapped her hands away and expertly opened her locker.

"It's not funny Riker! I was so bored! She was literally watching every move I made!" She let out a frustrated grunt, and I laughed and pulled her into a squeezing hug. Unfortunately Mckenzie walked by right then and I smirked and hugged here even tighter.  
**  
Iris's P.O.V.  
**  
School was finally over and we walked over to the middle school for the rest of the kids to meet up with us. After Rydel, Rocky, and Ross and Ryland did, we walked home.

"What do you want to do today? We didn't get any homework." I said, walking up the sidewalk.

Rydel shrugged and said, "I don't know. But you have to listen to this new song Jenny showed me today!"

Riker and I nodded and said, "Alright, what is it?" We were walking into their house by now and Rydel made a B-line for the computer. She got on it and immediately went to YouTube.

"It's called SexyBack by Justin Timberlake."

I nodded and Riker and Rocky freaked out screaming, "I love that song!"

I chuckled at their silliness and listened to the song.

That was when I figured out what we could do.

**So I think we've all seen the Scorpio Rocker's version of Sexy Back, for any who haven't look it up. It's basically Riker and Rocky dancing and lip-syncing to the song. Not to mention that they're like the same ages they are in here. Maybe a year or two older. But it's awesome:) How you guys liking the story?!**

**My character, Lora :P, makes an appearance and Rodrick and Mckenzie are still causing trouble. I forgot to mention that Rodrick is indeed based off of Rodrick in Diary of A Wimpy Kid. So just think of a younger Devon Bostick. **

**Also in the original drafts that Lizzie sent, Iris and Riker were in eighth grade but in 2005 they would've actually been freshman, so I changed it around and sorry if it seems like they're still in middle school because they were originally. And SexyBack was released in 2006 but for the sake of the story, lets just pretend it was just released. **

**By the way Mackenzie, if I could I would trade places with you because a first R5 concert is something to remember:) They're going to London and Paris but apparently both are already sold out o.O**

**Follow me on Twitter: LoraR5**

**Or on Tumblr: lorar5 **

**They're exactly the same, I know hahaXD**

**Lots of love!**

**-Lora & Lizzie**


	14. What Did He Have to Do?

**Littleton Colorado, August 8****th**** 2005**

**Monday, 4:45 p.m.**

**Rydel's P.O.V.**

Okay, I think we got everything we need. You see, Rissy had the genius idea to make a video of Riker and Rocky dancing to "Sexyback" by Justin Timberlake. It didn't even take long to get some choreography together or outfits. Mom was going to film it for us and I would do costumes while Iris did hair, oh yeah, this was going to be hilarious.

Mom set the camera up outside and we did a couple takes. I picked out some cool sunglasses and black shirts for them to wear, and Iris spiked Rocky and Riker's hair to perfection. We played the tape and they would mouth along and dance with the words. Then, we took it to the basement and I brought out the other costumes, which was a tan suit, black vest, white shirt, and a red tie, and some white sneakers.

Iris pressed play on the track again and we watched them dance, then we did another take of just Riker with the vest, shirt and tie on. Rissy and I had to run outside, we were laughing so hard at how funny they looked. Mom ran out and got us for the last couple takes, where my secret weapon outfit choice would come into play, Rissy is going to die!

Iris was sitting behind the camera, skipping the track to the correct part of the song, when the boys walked out in their last costume. It was just a black vest and jeans. Her eyes went wide, and in the next millisecond, she was laughing so hard she was clutching her stomach in pain. And they haven't even started dancing yet...

Well, Iris was having a holy meltdown while they were dancing from laughing so much, so I volunteered to take her outside, where she was rolling around on the ground, tears pouring out of her eyes. It took about half an hour more when she finally calmed down and I took her back inside where they were finishing up.

Riker smirked at us as he pulled his plain white t-shirt over his head and confidently walked over to us. "Couldn't take the heat?" He asked Iris a he came up.

She snorted and said, "What heat? All I felt was an overwhelming urge to throw up."

Burn! My mind chided. We all laughed and I went upstairs to edit the video.

**Riker's P.O.V**

Well, that couldn't have been anymore crazy. The whole time we were filming Iris was dying laughing, and her laugh is so contagious and cute, it took all I had to not laugh with her. When we were finally done mom and Rocky went upstairs to make some lunch and Rydel was editing the video. Which left Iris and I alone, this was totally planned.

"You want to go outside?" She asked, and I nodded. We walked around the neighborhood outside and just talked about anything and everything. It was so peaceful I never wanted it to end.

"You know, I may just have to post that video on YouTube when Rydel is done." She said, breaking the silence.

"Oh yeah?" I asked chuckling.

She nodded and I said, "Well, I may just have to post some of your baby photos on the internet too."

"Touche` Lynch, not bad." She said as she grabbed my hand and intertwined it with hers.

**Nine Months Later**

**Iris's P.O.V**

It's now close to the end of the year, and almost every week since that Summer Festival we played at, Rodrick has been getting onto my last nerves! He's flirted, or tried to. He's been talking to me, telling me about all this crap about his band. And I've had it up to my head with that guy. The next time I see him, I swear I'm going to punch him in the face.

No, really. I'm just going to punch him in the face and go get some ice cream.

It was the end of the day, and we were all walking home from school when it happened.

"So, anybody caught your eye for the end of the year Homecoming dance?" Rydel asked me with wiggly eyebrows.

I laughed and said, "Well, There was this one incredibly adorable fifth grader with blonde hair. What was his name? Boss? Moss? No, that's not it..." I mumbled at the end.

She laughed and said, "No, sorry. He's taken."

I looked at her with wide eyes and said, "Really?! With who?"

She turned to me and said, "Her name is Mary. Apparently she roped him into it while they were playing kickball on the playground. He's completely smitten."

I laughed and fake snapped my fingers, "Darn it. He was so cute too..."

She laughed and said, "Well, what about his older brother?"

Riker was just walking towards us now, he had his signature smirk/smile on his face and was carrying his binder. I turned towards Rydel and said, "Rocky? Idiot."

She laughed and we heard Rocky yell a "you know you love it!" From where he was standing at his locker. We clutched our stomachs in laughter at his remark.

**Iris's P.O.V.**

We were walking down the sidewalk. Rydel on my left and Riker on my right, Ross and Rocky trailing behind, when we were stopped. Rodrick stood there, in his usual attire of gothic punk looking clothes. Rocky and Ross growled behind me, and Riker tensed up instantly, and Rydel, well, she just seemed over it all.

"Hey hotness, you ready to agree to that date yet?" Rodrick said with a signature smirk.

I smirked back, and spat with venom in my voice, "Not if you were the last ego- absorbed, selfish, jerk on the whole planet. Which you probably are, by the way."

Rydel and Riker silently snickered next to me and I heard Rocky utter a "oh, burn." behind me. I held back my prideful smirk and waited for a reply. But instead, Rodrick looked like he was completely distraught, and well, desperate. He started pleading.

"Why won't you go out with me?"  
"Because I don't like you!"  
"Please! Please! Please! Please! Pl-"  
"Alright fine!"  
"Wh-what?"

Everyone stopped and stared. I stopped breathing. Riker stopped breathing. Rydel was looking at me with shock and terror. Which I'm sure is the expression I had on my face. Rodrick looked utterly shocked, and a little happy. I hate myself right now...

"You will?" Rodrick then ran over to me and picked me up, spinning me around in a bone crushing hug. I slapped his arms away and Riker came over to tug me away from him. We stumbled back, with me still in Riker's arms. We looked at each other, than immediately jumped apart.

I still hadn't comprehended what I said when Rodrick left with some incoherent sentences and giggles. I turned back around with a sigh of relief to see Rydel and the others staring at me in shock. I sighed, "I'm so sorry guys. I really didn't want to, but I...I guess I can give him one date, then dump him. Just to get him to shut up."

Riker looked at me, with so much pain in his eyes, I couldn't bare to look back, then swiftly turned on his heel and walked away, Rydel, and Ross following. I sighed stood there for a moment. And then I saw a disappointed Rocky standing there.

"Rocky. Don't give me that look, I can't take it," I groaned out. He shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged, turning and leaving, I followed suit. We were still walking home on the sidewalk when he broke the silence.

"Rissy, what if you end up liking him?" I sighed again, for what felt like the millionth time that day. "That's what I'm afraid of."

I mumbled. He nodded, with his head still down. We walked to his driveway where he parted. "Aren't you going to come in?" He asked as he saw I made no move to follow him.

I shook my head and said, "No, sorry Roc, I don't think that'll be a good idea right now." He nodded and turned but I caught him before he walked off.

"Rocky!" He turned to look at me. "Tell Riker... I'm sorry. Okay?" He just nodded and jogged up to his front door, walking in and leaving me alone. I took my own sweet time getting home. And when I finally trudged up the stairs and plopped on to my bed, I rolled over and buried my face in my pillow, and cried my eyes out.

**Well that was depressing … But things always get better:) I'm sorry that this is a shorter chapter but I'm out right now. As you can see we are speeding up the story a little bit and after a bit more drama, they will be planning their move. Holy Rikes this will be goodXD**

**I'll update soon!**

**Lots of love!**

**-Lora and Lizzie**


	15. Kinda Awkward Run-In's

**Littleton Colorado, May 15****th**** 2006**

**Saturday, 4:15 p.m.**

**Iris's P.O.V.**

Well, I tried my best all week to give Riker the space he needs. But this week was terrible for me. On the outside, I looked tired and drained. On the inside, I was an emotional wreck. I was tired all this week because I would cry all night, which resulted in dark bags under my eyes. I tried covering it up with make-up, but that just made my skin break out. I hadn't been outside in the sun at all, so I've become paler than before. I had minor weight loss because I had frequently lost my appetite. The kids and teachers at school would give me worried looks, but never actually cared enough to ask if I was alright. The only thing keeping me sane was the thought that maybe Riker looked and felt just as bad as I do. But clearly, that wasn't the case. He looked good, he looked normal. He looked...fine. Rydel had gotten over her shock and was speaking to me again, and between her and Rocky, I had drilled them both for any evidence that maybe Riker wasn't as happy as he looked. Rocky said he didn't seem near as angry as before, and said that it might be safe for me to talk to him now.

So that's basically what happened this week. I'm currently pacing my room, looking for an outfit for my "date" with Rodrick, and words to say to Riker. I finally settled on a plain yellow t-shirt, jeans and converse for my date, and then grabbed my purse and walked out of the house, still not sure what I could say to Riker.  
I walked up their driveway, but before I could even get up the porch steps, the door swung open.

"Hey." I said upon seeing Riker. He was all dressed up in a button down black, gray, and white striped shirt. His hair had obviously been gelled, and he smelled of subtle, but intoxicating, after-shave.

"H-hey Iris." He said, stuttering. I immediately hated the way the atmosphere had changed between us.

"Uh, y-you look nice." I said, mentally kicking myself for not preparing a speech or anything.

"Thanks." He said, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks.

I sighed out of frustration and walked all the way up the steps, facing him. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I agreed to Rodrick, I wish I hadn't. But this whole 'not talking' thing is killing me. Literally. I can't stand the thought that your mad at me and, and... I'm sorry, Rikes. I'm just sorry." I had a small set of tears brewing in my eyes and I wiped them away viciously as I made to step off the porch. But, a hand stopped me on my wrist, pulling me back. Riker enclosed me in the best hug I've ever had.

"I'm not mad at you, Rissy. I'll admit, I was at first. But I understand now. I miss you too." He said softly as we released from the hug.

I smiled and said," That really feels good to hear you say that." He smiled and nodded at me, and it felt good to finally have my best friend back. "So, I have my death date with Rodrick at five, so that gives us half an hour to hang out."

I was enjoying the light and airy mood, but it suddenly vanished. His face seemed to drop, and he looked at me apologetically. "Geez, I'm sorry, Rissy. But I have to go. I'm going to an art showcase and it starts at five."

I nodded slowly, disappointed and a little sad, but trying my hardest to hide it. "Oh. Well that's all right. I-I'll just hang out with Rydel or something."

He nodded and gave me one last wave, then vanished down the sidewalk. I never did see Delly. I just walked sadly home, dreading the second the clock would hit five.

**Riker's P.O.V.**

I felt really bad about leaving Iris there, the look on her face sent tiny knives through my heart. But I made a commitment to McKenzie, and my dad always tells us to keep our commitments. So, there I was, walking through the busy hallways of the decorated art center, wondering what I may find when I find hers. Maybe she'll be with all her other popular friends, hanging out and hair-twirling, gossiping about the new quarterback, and probably not even paying any attention to me. I pushed my way through groups of proud parents and friends, enveloping their talented little painters and artists in hugs, congratulating them and buying all their paintings.

That's when I saw her. She sat in an empty corner of the big room, sitting with her ankles crossed and hands folded in her lap. Everyone passed by her, no one from school even bothered to show up. She wore a deep purple sweater and her blonde hair was pushed back by a headband. She kept her head down and would raise it up ever so often, giving passer bys longing looks. Her eyes met mine, and I smiled slightly and approached. She stood up slowly and wiped at her eyes a bit, before plastering on a smile and sticking her hand out.

"I'm glad you came." She said.

I nodded and she led me over her paintings. "Wow, these are really good." I complimented, examining one she did of a rose. The petals were a rich red color, and they looked soft and fragrant, almost too life-like to believe.

"Thank you." she said softly. She then pointed to another one," This one is my favorite." I smiled as I recognized the flower.

"It's an Iris." I said, amused.

She slightly smiled and said, "Yeah, in honor of your friend. I was going to give it to her, like peace treaty of sorts. To apologize for how awful I've been to her the past school years."

I was shocked at first, but then something inside told me that maybe McKenzie wasn't that awful after all. "That's very nice of you, McKenzie." I said. She blushed and looked down, and I felt a fluttering in my stomach I thought I'd only ever feel for Iris.

I grabbed her hand in mine and said, "You wanna get some pizza or something?"

Her eyes twinkled with delight and she said, "I love pizza."

**Iris's P.O.V.**

Rodrick arrived right on time, and he actually didn't look half bad. He wore a simple black button down shirt, hair neatly combed, and a polite smile on his face. I suddenly felt a little under-dressed then thought, "Ah, what the heck. I ain't trying to impress anybody anyhow."

We walked down our street, and an awkward, yet comfortable silence filled the air. "So, you and your band did very good at the festival." He commented as we crossed the street.

I politely smiled and said, "Yours too."

He nodded back and we continued walking. "So, what kind of stuff do you like?" I asked awkwardly.

He smirked when he looked over at me and said, "Is that the best thing you can think of? Nerd." He shoved me playfully at the end, and I found myself laughing, something I never thought would happen today.

"Alright, what do I need to know about you? Any criminal records or assault charges that I should be aware of?"

He laughed at my playful tone and said, "Well, no. I don't think so. What about you?"

I smiled mischeviously and said, "Well, I could tell you. But that would be in violation of my parole."

He raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh really now? Just what did little miss buttercup do to upset the law."

I chuckled and answered, "I threw a water balloon full of ketchup at a cop."

We both laughed as he held open the door to my favorite pizza place.

**Rodrick's P.O.V.**

The date was going fine as I held the door open for her. We walked into the pizza place laughing. We scanned the crowd, looking for an empty booth when I saw a familiar face.

"Hey, isn't that your friend over there?" I asked Iris as I pointed to a booth in the middle of the restaurant.

She followed my finger and her face grew confused. "Yeah, it is. But who's that girl with him?" She answered.

I shrugged my shoulders and said, "I don't know. Over there's an empty booth right beside them. Let's go find out."

She nodded and I grabbed her hand to lead the way. I thought that maybe I was supposed to feel some sort of spark when our hands met, but I didn't.

** Riker's P.O.V.**

McKenzie and I were actually having a good time. We sat in my favorite booth at the best pizza place in town. We were talking and eating pepperoni pizza and I laughed when she got a bit of sauce on her nose. Her cheeks tinted red as she grabbed the napkin and turned her head away a bit to wipe it off. As she was doing so I noticed two people walking down our aisle heading towards an empty booth. I fixated my eyes and saw a heart stopping sight.

"Hey, isn't that Iris over there?" McKenzie asked as she craned her head around the side of the booth.

I shrunk down in my seat a bit and said, "Yeah, it is."

She turned back around too look at me just as they reached our table. No words were said, and as soon as she saw I was with McKenzie she looked like someone kicked her in the gut. Rodrick sent us a smile and a nod and I returned the favor, trying to ignore the heartbreak I felt when I saw their hands linked.

As I craned my neck around to see them sit in a booth, Iris' back to me, I heard McKenzie say, "Wow, she's with Rodrick Carter. He's a whole grade above us."

I nodded my head and ushered a small, "Yeah." As I turned back around and caught McKenzie with an odd look in her eyes.

**Iris's P.O.V.  
**  
He was with...her. Mckenzie. He was with McKenzie. Why was he with McKenzie?! I was so mad and confused I saw red everywhere I looked. Rodrick kept giving me odd stares and glancing back at their table every now and then, with an even stranger glint in his eyes. The waitress came by and brought us our Cokes then went back to get our cheese pizza.

"Are you okay?" He asked me after an awkward silence.

I faked a smile and nodded saying. "Yeah, I'm fine. How are you?" I winced a little at how weird that was and I started munching on a piece of pizza.

"I'm...fine." He said somewhat hesitantly.

I nodded and sputtered out a "Good, good." as I slurped my Coke. I know what you're thinking, and no. I'm not purposely trying to be weird so he'll never want to go out again. I'm just that way.

After a while I non-chalantly glanced back and saw Riker stand from the booth, taking McKenzie's hand and lead her to the arcade. I was fuming now and without thinking, grabbed Rodrick's hand furiously, jerking him away from the table and pulling him over to the arcade. We walked inside the loud, black-lit room. I noticed Riker and...her, getting ready to play Dance Dance Revolution. I scanned the room a bit more and saw a motorcycle racing game right next to it. Rodrick came back by then with a bag full of tokens and I, gently this time, pulled him over. I acted like I failed to notice Riker and McKenzie there, or the daggers Riker was sending Rodrick, and hopped on. I had to lean over far on the motorcycle to reach the handlebars. It was really wobbly and as Rodrick put the two coins in he wrapped both arms around mine to keep me steady. I smirked a bit as I saw Riker staring at us with anger in his eyes, not even paying attention to McKenzie. The game ended and I had won a hundred tickets from the machine for coming in first. I sat straight up and squealed (like a girly girl, my mind added with a shudder) and threw my arms around his neck in a hug. I heard him chuckle then hug me back. I hopped off the game and collected the tickets.

Riker and McKenzie were done on the dance game, and I smiled sweetly at them both before turning around to face Rodrick and said, "Bet ya, I can beat you at that." I pointed over to the dance game.

"Your on." He accepted with a smirk. I nodded and walked over to it.

McKenzie walked up with Riker in tow and said, "Mind if we watch? I think someone here needs to show us how it's done also."

I laughed and nodded. I shot Riker a friendly smile and popped two coins in the machine. Rodrick hopped up and shot me a discreet wink. I blushed and picked a Latin sounding song, then pressed play. The music filtered loudly through the speakers and the arrows popped up on the screen. I hit each step perfectly and won bonus points for adding my own salsa moves. Rodrick was creeping up fairly close to my score, and a small crowd had gathered around, cheering us on. During one spin I noticed Riker's red cheeks watching me, and McKenzie's red cheeks watching Rodrick. I laughed to myself as the game came to a close, me winning by twenty points. The machine burst to life, flashing colors and showing a percentage meter that was fully green. I fist bumped the air and hopped off, collecting the tickets.

"You did really good, Rissy." Riker congratulated me. I laughed and we high-fived

**Iris's P.O.V.**

"So, anything else you wanna do?" Rodrick asked as we walked around the arcade.

I shrugged my shoulders. But then, Riker caught my eye. He was standing next to McKenzie, who was playing a racing game. All he was doing was staring at me, not even bothering to look away. I held his gaze, and noticed the different flecks of jealousy, hurt, want, and longing in them. He may be on a date with McKenzie, and it may hurt my feelings for however long, but I'm not going to do the same to him. I care about him too much. Rodrick can live without me, but Riker can't, and that's whom my heart truly belongs to.

I let out a long sigh. "No, I'm fine. Let's just head home."

He seemed a bit sad, but nodded anyway. We gave our tickets to a little kid, who was more than thrilled, and walked out the door. There was an awkward silence the whole time, but when we reached my driveway, Rodrick spoke. "So, I know this was only supposed to be one date, but can I see you again next Friday?"

I had to say, the date wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I needed to be honest. "No, I'm sorry, Rodrick. I did have a nice time, honest I did. But, it just wouldn't feel right...for me."

He looked like a kicked puppy, and it pained me to see him like that. "There's someone else isn't there?"

His question took me slightly off guard, but as I remained silent, with my head held low, he knew he got his answer. "He's a lucky guy, your friend." I looked up at him in shock; surprised he caught on so fast. He smiled and held his hands up in surrender saying, "Hey, I'm not stupid! I saw how he kept looking at you. I'm just a little disappointed that I'll be out fifty bucks."

He seemed shocked that he let that out. I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at him accusingly. "What do you mean? Was this just a bet?"

He shoved his hands into his pockets shamefully and looked down at his toes saying, "Yes. It was a bet."

I suppose he was waiting for me to yell at him, to cry, scream and tell him to get off my porch but I couldn't help myself, I started laughing. Hard. I was doubled over with tears coming out of my eyes and my stomach cramping from the laughter.

"Why are you laughing?!" He demanded to know.

I just shook my head and motioned with my finger for him to give me a minute, and as soon as I had calmed down enough I spoke, "I could only expect something like that from you!"

He crossed his arms over his chest sternly and said, "What do you mean someone like me?"

I then stopped laughing and all the rage that I should have felt washed over me. "Someone like you. The 'thinks he's a bad boy', player that thinks he can get any girl he winks at but can't."

He seemed taken aback but immediately dropped his arms with a sigh and said, "Your right, and I'm sorry I played you like that. Your actually really cool and I would actually kind of want to see you again."

I sighed and said, "You seem like an okay guy, I'm sorry I was so mean to you before, but I don't think that would be a good idea." He sighed again in sadness and I wanted desperately to make him feel better so I said, "But, if you want, you could take me to the dance thingy at the end of the year?"

He nodded his head enthusiastically and I laughed before saying goodnight, giving him a quick hug and peck on the cheek and walking inside.****

Riker's P.O.V.

I actually had a really good time tonight with McKenzie. It made me realize that she only acted the way she does in school because of the peer pressure. She said that everyone just sort of expects to see her act like that and for me, that was perfectly understandable. I walked her home, but it felt like I didn't want her to leave, I wanted to spend more time with her. So, surprising myself, I asked her to go out on another date with me, which she readily accepted. Then, she kissed me. Not on the cheek, but right on the lips, it was soft and sweet, almost timid, and it was wonderful, really, it just didn't feel the same.

I brushed the feeling off and walked home, I went into the living room and greeted my family, who was playing a rather intense game of Monopoly and everyone was absolutely hating the fact that Rocky was yet again, in the lead with hotels and houses lined up all over the board. I laughed and walked upstairs into my room, kicking my shoes off and changing quickly into my pajamas before jumping into bed for the night.

**Well a well well. *Sighs* I am so sorry that this is late. It's my fault, things have just been insane. I just recently got my Drivers License though! Woohoo! It won't be as late next time, I promise!**

**Sorry Lizzie!  
**

**Also:**

**Twitter: LoraR5**

**Tumblr: lorar5 ( Smile. Laugh. Think of Childish Things.)**

**Lots of love!**

**- Lora & Lizzie**


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